Is there a really a need to hide some of these things?

[sinisterporpoise]

 I’ve avoiding posting political updates, health statuses, and even stories about transgender issues on Facebook lately.  I’ve not been too successful with some of these, especially items about the health, but I got the impression that most people do not really care. They just want to hear the phrase “I’m fine” even if I am not, although I do appreciate the one friend who keeps asking if I’m all right every time I give some expression of pain.

If I examine why I avoid things, it’s the fear of criticism. I know this old demon from social anxiety disorder, and I’ve always found it strange I can share things with people I’ll probably never meet face-to-face on the Internet.  I need to stop doing this, and in fact, I’ll have to go out of my way to start re-posting transgender updates and political posts on Facebook. No one who knows what I’ve been through in the past year should be all that surprised that my views might have changed.  And I’d be surprised if the Terre Haute Mind’s Eye Society people don’t already know that I’m transgender. Testosterone has already done its damage, and it’s hard to hide at my age, even though it is not impossible.  Besides, I also believe Mystique was right when she said “I shouldn’t have to” in the second X-Men movie.

Avoiding health status updates is more complicated. I tried to at one time because I thought people were getting annoyed.  Then I started getting probing, concerned, and somewhat ridiculous questions from my grandmother like, “Will you still be able to walk?”  (Uh, why wouldn’t I? I only had bone spurs removed from my big toes.)  I’ve gone back to doing some health status updates just so the family information network gets to where it needs to go. 

Other Issues

I found out something I did not know about low-income housing in Terre Haute. Not all of it is connected to HUD or Section 8. If this extends to other places as well, other than the small towns I lived in long ago, it may give me a chance to go someplace where the safety net programs aren’t quite as restrictive or unsupportive as Indiana.  I will have to look into this further.  Now, where do I want to go?  Pennsylvania is familiar, and I’ve wanted to go to New Mexico for a long time. I might avoid the desert southwest, however. I don’t think the drought is going to end until the region’s population declines

And an unrelated note, I found out my ankles have an unusually large range of mobility. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with this information. It’s nice to explain the ankle problems. She also said it might be why soft-tissue inflammation is showing up on the ankle X-rays that have been taken this year.  Does it mean I should switch from low-top sneakers to high tops otherwise?

Comments

[silk_dragon_zen]

Yes, I think high-top shoes could really help with that. I have a similar problem and the only reason I don't wear high-top shoes is that the shoes I need to wear for my heel problems don't come in a high-top variety, which is annoying.

As for facebook, it's evil. I wouldn't bother putting your energy into posting on there. Same goes for Tumblr, but for different reasons. In the case of facebook, I could easily imagine you running into people of a certain political persuasion who will gaslight you and pretend your problems aren't real. In the case of Tumblr, I'm afraid people of the opposite political persuasion might at first accept you, and then eventually tear you to itty bitty pieces over small stuff, since there are way too many SJWs on there who don't know when to give people space.

[sinisterporpoise]

I've had certain problems with Tumblr long before Facebook. I used Facebook mostly to keep in touch with distant family members, and no one has trouble believing my name is Lara Landis so far. As for Tumblr, there's a reason why the blogging platform gave rise to horrible video games like "Social Justice." Even Twitter can be horrible if you start getting a lot of followers. I find some people are now chewing *me* out for retweeting something someone else posted. I've been guilty of gas lighting, especially before I knew what it was.

I've worn high tops before, but never really liked them. They came into fashion for a while in the 80s. I remember being made fun of for not having them for a while. When my parents finally bought a generic pair for me, which also resulted in being made fun of. I always had trouble putting them on.