I recently saw a great middle school production of Seussical the Musical, and was really touched by a couple of the songs. One of my many girlish traits has always been that stuff like this makes my cry, and this show was no exception.
The main story is about Horton the elephant trying to save the tiny Whos, who live on a dust speck on a clover blossom. Only he, with his enormous ears, can hear their cries, and only he, with his enormous heart, dedicates himself to helping them find a safe haven -- in spite of the mocking, scorn, and even threats of harm that everyone else in the jungle heap upon him. The other main character, Jojo, is one of the Whos down in Whoville that also feels like an outcast because he sees things differently than everyone else. The play weaves their two tales together, and becomes this amazing story of how love, friendship, and understanding can give us all hope.
There's one song in particular, where Horton and Jojo both feel alone and outcast, then find each other -- a kindred voice in the darkness that understands exactly what they're feeling, and lets them both know that they're not alone, as long as they have each other. This in spite of the fact that they may never actually meet in real life, due to being literally worlds apart. The song really jumped out at me in bright neon letters 3 stories tall; what better metaphor for what I've experienced in the past few months, thinking myself alone as a transgendered husband and father, then discovering amazing friends that are feeling and experiencing much, if not exactly, the same things! Wow:
To my new trans Mormon friends, who let me know that I am not alone: thank you!
And to anyone else out there reading my blog: you're not alone in the universe, either! We're out here, trying to make our voices heard in whatever small way we can, hoping we can make a difference in each others' lives. And by that act alone, we can.
The friendships I have made mean a lot to me too. Though we may seem worlds a part your and Christian’s friendship has helped me through some tough times. I am grateful to our kind Heavenly Father for putting you both in my path.
ReplyDeleteAnd I, you. It's so nice not to feel alone. :)
ReplyDeleteWow Arcee, I could not have said it better! You have described exactly how I feel. I have read the past several days with great interest the posts you, Christian and giantC have been sharing the past few months, almost with fear that once again I was on the outside looking in, never to find space. I have always been either too weird or too personally/socially uncomfortable to have friends and am afraid to make friends and am admittedly a little techno-phobic anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am trying to say is that if it is not an imposition, I would be grateful to be welcomed into your circle. I have felt so alone and maybe see a light dimly at the end of this lifelong tunnel.
I will post this and work on a better more formal introduction of myself, as friendships should start with a decent introduction. I plan to post that here since the whole Horton and Jojo analogy seems so fitting. Thanks and much love, Laure.
Laurie, I know the feeling about being excluded and afraid to make friends. When I first started looking for other LDS people who are Transgender; I felt as if I was on the outside looking in. I must admit that I kind of cyber-stocked Christian’s blog for a while, and left several anonymous comments there before I finally decided to log in with my g-mail account. Friends are what make our difficulties bearable.
DeleteLaurie: of course you're welcome! We're not trying to be an exclusive club or anything, and really, Christi, giantC and I are all quite different, but we have these areas of intersection in our lives that connect us, and there's always, always value in widening those circles. :)
ReplyDeleteDid you see Christi's post tonight on her blog? I am really concerned for her. I am too new at this to know how to help. She needs to know she's not alone just like you said above. My prayers go out to her and her family and all of us tonight.
ReplyDeleteLaurie: I've talked with Christi outside of the blogosphere tonight, and I think she's okay. At times I think we can all get a little freaked out by the dysphoria. The one real tragedy of blogging, especially this pseudo-anonymous blogging we engage in here, is that it doesn't handle situations in realtime very well. For that, email and even old fashioned telephone calls and face to face connections are much better. (but somehow they seem a little more daunting, at least to me!) I'm working on that.
ReplyDeleteArcee, thanks so much for letting me know about Christi tonight. You confirmed the prompting I felt to reply to you because you were in a better position to reach her the old fashioned way.
DeleteWhen I wrote my concern to you last night I had a heart expanding experience, God has inspired us to find each other and is using us to minister to each other. He loves us each enough to bring together understanding hearts to help each other through! God loves and even needs the strength of His transgendered children too. What a reassurance to me that I can still be of use to Him if I will. I feel a whole new part of me and my life going forward being born. I want to help where I can and how He would guide me to do. With love, Laurie.