Saying out loud

Ok, sounds silly but say it first out loud to yourself, then to yourself in front of a mirror. You might feel a little bit foolish but if you are all alone... who cares.:icon_bigg

It took me ages to actually say the words out loud to someone 'My son is gay' I could talk about his 'sexual orientation' 'liking' boys anything rather than actually saying the words.

I know it is silly but that's just how it is. It is really good that you have realised this and want to get over it. Good for you. You will probably only have to say it once or twice for you to start feeling more comfortable with it.

Good luck

 

Coming out is a process that happens over an entire lifetime. You will get better at it as time goes on with some practice. Good luck and I hope you are able to talk to your friends.

 

louise is right...again, like always, practice saying it, and once you say it out loud, it gets easier. It was a huge roadblock for me to, but i felt tons better once it was out there. good luck

 

It does feel funny to say it out loud, but the more often you do the easier it will become!

 

Ok, yeah, practice. and also try to relax before you come out. If you get the jitters, don't worry. It's normal. take deep breaths to relax if you do, and just say it without thinking. blurt it out. cause if you think, you'll start thinking that you'll want to back down or something. just relax, deep breaths, and blurt out. that's what i did! XP

 

I'm in the same boat. I've only told people over msn and Myspace.

 

I agred with everyone
And you can come out whiel standing or sitting next to the ones you've already been out to, because it feels more comfortable, rather than to say to someone or some peopel who dont know you yet

 

I have only come out to three people. The first person was online, and the following two were actually on the phone. I felt, at the time, liked I /needed/ to tell these people, and couldn't wait for a face-to-face talk since I wouldn't see them for a while.

It honestly was quite frightening to say it out loud to someone. Speaking online is so much safer and less personal. You're conversing with someone through lines of text, hiding behind a computer. Saying it aloud right to a person means using your own voice without the safety net of being able to hide behind technology. It definitely took me some time to say "I'm gay", as I spoke to my friend I ended up mumbling incoherently before my friend finally said, "I can't take this anticipation! Can you please just tell me what you have to say!"

It just seems so much more real when you say "I'm gay" with your own voice, and I found this to be really overwhelming and slightly frightening to finally say it. But you know what? I found out it is all for the best. Saying it meant I was finally embracing it, and this was in itself a truly liberating experience. Embracing my sexuality meant embracing my happiness for who I am, and my pride in having done so. And just as good, perhaps, was hearing the voice of my friends. I could detect the genuine pride in their voice, and hearing them say "I love you" meant so much more to me than seeing them having the same conversation through online text.

I definitely am looking forward to seeing my close friends who I have told face to face, and continue to look forward to coming out to others which I hope to do face-to-face.

I guess the disadvantage to speaking face-to-face or out loud is that you can't just end the conversation if it goes sour by clicking on an X, you have to remain in the conversation physically until its conclusion. But there will no doubt be these types of experiences in life, and learning how to deal with them is likely the utmost importance. So while my experience of talking to my friends out loud rather than online was really great, this may not be true for all situations.

However, in terms of advice, I'd definitely say just to take a deep breath and go for it. You can say it out loud in preparation by yourself to be comfortable with the words, but really, I don't think it's going to compare to when you say it to someone else. If whomever you speak to is receptive and supportive of your coming out, I think that the experience you have is going to be much more personal and genuine than when you spoke online, and it is worth all the more.