The top left pic was six months into social transition and three months on HRT already. I have a much more radically different before pic somewhere, but I more wanted to highlight the difference between years 1,2,3, and 4 on HRT and letting my hair grow.
My main advice for new trans folks is this:
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The hormones will not do everything. You gotta put effort into your wardrobe, your movements, your voice, your accessories, the ways that you sit, eat, etc. My whole life I was putting effort into stopping myself from being too femme because I was being made fun of. I trained myself out of a lot of those natural-feeling movements and had to retrain myself.
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be healthy! You’re in the right gender now, so take care of yourself! Eat right, brush your teeth, use good shampoo, clean your house and your bedding. These things will make your skin clearer and generally help you feel overall happier. This, too, is part of transition
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be patient! And be kind to yourself. The changes will not happen instantaneously and there will be days when all you can see is your old self. Learn to forgive yourself for this.
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get therapy. Helps with point 3 and 2. And there’s usually some other stuff going on behind the scenes mentally. Transition will not solve all your problems, but I can make your problems feel worth solving.
Good luck! You got this! 💪
If a computer is a car, then Linux(the Kernal) is the chassis. Mint (the distro) is the motor, and Cinnamon (the desktop environment) is the fancy interior.
KDE plasma is a fancy interior that works with tons of different motors.
Cinnamon is designed for mint and works best with it.
DISCLAIMER: All of this is analogy and isn’t technically correct in a pedantic sense, but it works well enough for me. I’m sorry if my analogy isn’t exactly accurate.