Debra, I had to reply to your post. I felt as though I was reading my own personal journal. I cannot tell you what it feels like to know that I am not alone in my beliefs or feelings or whatever this qualifies as.. Maybe I wouldn't even need to explain it to you, it sounds as though you "get it" I have been opening myself up to being more aware of like minded individuals and have not been disappointed by what I am discovering. There are, indeed, many of us who feel very much the same, but because we have conducted most of our lives in a "polite" manner and always simply put on that "smile" and rode out all of the types of encounters that we dread those around us do not really know that we feel the way that we do inside. I have been contemplating this: we may be surrounded by many who feel exactly as we do but they are simply "putting on the show" same as us. A shift in perception, an awakening, is all that might be needed to find that we need only turn our attention slightly in a different direction to discover a whole new life, a whole new world of possiblilities. A world where we not only belong, and are good enough but where our presence is vital and important.... Thank you for writing. I hope we meet again sometime. May your days be blessed by acceptance and authenticity. Happy New Year