I was wondering how you knew you were ready to move on from a strictly online support situation (ie EC) and begin some form of real life support or get involved in LGBT social life. Was there something that clicked for you that told you you were ready for one or the other? Did you need to be out? To one or more people in real life? Or...? Having moved on to either of these situations, what did you learn that you wished you had known before embarking on either of them? I can't see myself in a live group support situation but am not the most social of people so both seem daunting at the moment. Any stories?
The barrier you see only exists in your mind. When you do come out you will see that. People will respond in varios ways from total boredom on up. Relax
I'm in a similar spot, so I'm curious what others have to say. I went to a PFLAG meeting about a week ago. Those meetings seem to be primarily support group and it was sort of overwhelming, and very personal. I will probably go at least one more time though to get a better sense of things. There don't seem to be any support groups for women of my age in my area (only strictly men's groups, or teen groups). There are some social meetups for my demographic, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to "dive in" there just yet...
I started off going to a support group that had a few people, then after a while I joined a hiking group, now I am friends with several of the guys outside of those things. So I would say take jt one step at a time and when you get comfortable, push yourself a little more.
@TheStormInside: There's a group here for women who've discovered later, that I tried once, but it was mostly for women who are/were with husbands/bf/mates and discussing the difficulties associated with that. All good except it doesn't apply to me and besides not being comfortable talking about this in public, I felt I had nothing to contribute to that particular conversation. (Which was the main point of the group.) @Pete1960: How long did you go to the support group before starting with the hiking group? Did you develop some extra confidence to branch out or did you just get to a point where you wanted/needed something social?
Went to the support group for about 3 months but wanted something more social. Like you, I am not really a social butterfly, so of course I was nervous at first , but it got easier once I started to get to know people.
still feel uneasy about getting involved in the LGBT social life. as a result i feel stagnant and stuck in my life currently. guess have to make a concious effort to come out of my comfort zone and but the fear and procastination takes over. always like small group of intimate friends over a large group of strangers but one can only have a group of intimate friends if one goes out and meet people socially.