Gender Magic Quotes

“In order to grow, you have to prioritize it, surround yourself with people who also want to grow, and take intentional steps toward the person you want to be.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the creator of the five stages of grief, reminds us, “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.… Beautiful people do not just happen.”1”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Strengthening your pride muscle is not just for you but for future generations, as well as the people you don’t even know are being impacted.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Remember that gender freedom doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s connected to collective freedom. When we are free, the possibilities are endless.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Research shows that getting involved with advocacy and standing up for your rights as a transgender/non-binary person increase feelings of agency and pride.3”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Pride is actively working to create the world we want to live in.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Remember that awe is feeling small in the face of something much greater than you and feeling connected to that greatness. What if you felt awe at the magic of who you are?”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“You are a galaxy masquerading as a planet.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Pride is a reflection of how you talk to yourself, how you treat yourself, and the daily actions you take affirming your identity and your boundaries.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“For me, it’s not the people who watched me grow up but the people who’ve watched me grow into myself and have consistently had my back whom I consider my family.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Give yourself space for all the feels that come up. Cry, rage, scream, be sad. Feel the loss and let it move through you. Because that’s the way to freedom.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Social determinants of health are the environmental, social, and cultural conditions that affect our physical and mental health and quality of life, both positively and negatively.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“As Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who recognized and named “flow,” notes, “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”4”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“May I have the courage to be who I say I am.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Wondering what would happen if you didn’t follow the rules at all gives you space to design a life that feels authentic and works for you. You start doing more things that once felt impossible.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“It’s not sustainable to have the person you’re evolving a relationship with be your sole source of support, and I highly recommend having the professional support of a therapist and friends.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Your commitment to doing life with your friends is just as important as your commitment to a future with a romantic or sexual partner and just as vulnerable.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Jeanette Winterson, Brook’s favorite author: “It is a big surprise falling in love… away you go, falling into someone else’s orbit and after a while, you might decide to pull your two planets together and call it home.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Remember that your gender identity is not the most interesting thing about you.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Who do I want to date? What sort of person would be romantically and sexually fulfilling for me?”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“But when this fear comes up, you have two options: You can take it as the gospel truth and keep shutting down your pleasure, or you can get curious. Is it true that your partner doesn’t respect your trans identity, or is it just fear talking?”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“You are simply existing. The world is the one making your identity a problem, not you. And you do not need to make yourself smaller because the world makes your life harder than the lives of cisgender people.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Brené Brown defines “shame” as “the intensely painful feeling of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“The lesson here is twofold: You don’t have to do this alone. And falling down is part of the process and expected as you learn. Just focus on getting back up.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“There are two things you can do to work with your brakes. The first and most important is simply to notice what your brakes are without judgment. This gives you an opportunity to show compassion to yourself rather than frustration and to ask yourself what you need. Second, use your brakes to move through curves at a safe pace.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“In other words, when your context feels safe and sexy, your body and brain are primed for pleasure.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“What would it be to imagine sexuality as a terrain of play and wonder rather than a dysphoria-packed minefield?”4”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“For one client I worked with, those questions helped him decide not to take off his binder during sex because sex felt more affirming that way.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Moving from judgment to curiosity within ourselves is a simple concept but takes practice to apply.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self

“Given the world we live in, it’s unrealistic to expect that you, as a transgender/non-binary person, are going to feel love for your body all day, every day. However, there is always an opportunity to show kindness to our bodies. And one of the greatest ways to show kindness to ourselves is to pursue pleasure.”
― Rae McDaniel, Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self