@magsvisaggs posted this downright inspiring timeline to twitter tonight which kicked off a whole meme across trans twitter. The pictured reply caught my attention.

This woman has been on HRT for seven years, she does not look male, and yet still does not feel comfortable enough with her body to be able to even wear a dress in public. She doesn’t understand how a person could get that way.

It makes me think of how people praise me for my confidence. Both cis and trans people ask me how I find the strength to dress up like I do and go out into the world.

When I first realized I was trans I reached out to a trans friend through twitter. In that first conversation she gave me the best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten, and it was just two words:

Be. Shameless.

Ignore what the world thinks and the world will quake before you. Dress how you want to dress, do what you want to do. You define your own existence, and fuck the haters.

Confidence doesn’t come from time, it doesn’t come from being patient, it comes from taking action. It comes from walking like you own the place.

This applies to EVERYONE. Man, woman or enby, cis or trans, skinny or fat, abled or disabled. Confidence comes from doing. Only you can built it.

Remember: “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” — Carrie Fisher