National Coming Out Day Event

I went to a coming out day event on Sunday and it was absolutely wonderful. There were people there of ALL ages, not just younger people as I thought. In fact the first person I talked to was a woman who came out at 45 after being married. The event wasn't just age diverse, it was altogether diverse with people of all ages groups, body types, some with disabilities, in other words, LGBT people from all walks of life. People were very accepting and I got to talk with a lot of people and got information on a lot of groups, including one for artists. I also was able to talk to several LGBT inclusive faith based groups. I was very happy to be able to get started in getting involved in the community.
Truth is, when I told people I am recently out no one batted an eyelash. Seriously. And I think that helped me a lot in normalizing not only coming out but the age at which I came out. I didn't have to answer a litany of questions concerning "why I was in the closet so long" and all of the stuff that I thought it would entail. For those on here with social anxiety, like myself, the conclusion for me is that even with accepting myself and coming out, my biggest critic, cynic and adversary continues to be myself. Of course, even going to this event is not something I could see myself doing even four months ago. I've made a lot of changes.
Going to this event did a lot for me and I'm glad I got to do it. I think the best thing about the whole thing was something that I haven't done in a long time-have fun.

 

Thanks. It was really good and I hope all of you have the opportunity to attend an event like that. Tonight I'm reaching out to some of the contacts I made at the event and hopefully I'll meet some new friends because of it.