I have realized in the last few months that I'm very lonely. I don't have any friends, I'm not in a relationship and my family no longer include me in their lives since I came out as trans. For now, I still live with my family but I won't be for much longer. They make my life difficult because of my gender identity and I feel it's high time I moved out anyway and stood on my own two feet. The problem is being trans (in my case) makes for a very lonely life and I'm all out of ideas how I can keep myself busy so I'm not feeling the pain. I have had many hobbies over the years that have helped me survive what has been a pretty lonely life even before I realized I was trans. I used to read, learn instruments, study a lot, go for a swim, attend a ceramics class, care for my pets, attend an evening class and make all kinds of art from knitting to decorating furniture. More recently, I have spent a lot of time watching films and playing computer games and I occasionally go for the odd run. Overall though, I feel that I have exhausted pretty much every kind of hobby I could enjoy alone. I feel starved of human company but given my situation, I can't be among other people. Nobody is willing to spend time with me because I'm trans and I live in a very transphobic area so I don't feel comfortable putting myself out there trying to make new friends. I just wondered what I could do to distract myself from my loneliness that I haven't tried before. I'd appreciate any ideas.
Some people take community courses with subjects they are interested in... For example photography... learning a language... improving communication skills... it is possible to ask in advance where the courses are, what kind of people attend etc... some people look at meetup... you might look for a chat ... but don't believe all that is said there, and don't give personal information... would it be possible to go to a lgbt center for group meetings or events ?
I'd recommend getting involved with the trans community in the UK if you're at all able to. Look up gendered intelligence, they provide services for young trans people in the UK.
I live in the midlands in a large village. It's not exactly rural but still, socially it's very behind. ---------- Post added 26th Oct 2014 at 09:06 PM ---------- I tried a local trans group but there was no one around my age and no trans guys. Aside from me being trans, I felt I had nothing in common with the other members.
Well, If that's the case, as others suggested, getting involved in an LGBT community organization in Birmingham could be a start. When you have free time, you can take a train or bus into town, and get involved. Manchester might be a bit farther but still very much doable. I knew someone that lived in Wiltshire and would take the train into London on the weekends.
Is there a local theatre around where you could volunteer? I would choose something like stagecraft rather than front of house because it will give you greater longevity. That is, you'd be working on sets - painting, building, lighting, whatever, over a longer period of time so you could become friendly with people whereas front of house duties would only be for the duration of the shows runs. You said something about not mixing with people? I still think this could work because even though there'd be other people around you could do your duties individually and really only deal with the one or two stage managers and then others only when you needed help moving big pieces of set. I'm just thinking theatre people might be more accepting. Yes? Another thought is taking a 6-8 week class in something that you'd like to try. Japanese bookbinding, fusion cuisine, dog agility, tap dancing?
