Why can't you just listen?!

I’m going to republish some older blog posts here for paid subscribers. These essays capture some of the early communication and thinking that was happening throughout the course of our journey with a trans-IDed daughter. This one was written in July of 2019. This would have been just a few months after my daughter confirmed to me that she identified as transgender. If there are links implied, know that I will work on getting those essays moved over here and as a paid subscriber, you will have access.

I’ve studied many types of communication recommended to repair relationships. They all have similarities and make sense, but these empathy-based strategies can be so hard to practice! Especially when those I want to use this communication with are the people I love most, the ones who share my house. I actually think I’m fairly good at some of it, but there’s evidence that I’m delusional here.  I’ll come back to this in a moment.

My biggest barriers to good communication as I see them are these: