Manifesting the goddess within me

November 24, 2025 · Wendy Peterson

Thanksgiving’s coming around, and this year’s different. Why? Because it’s my first one I’m celebrating without my family. At sixteen I left the family I was born with behind. I married at eighteen. I built a life with my partner and our children. But today, I’m surrounded by chosen family - and I’m more myself than ever.

This week I’m reflecting on how far I’ve come.

Here’s me, in September of last year,

just a few days into HRT, staring at my reflection and thinking, “Ok. This. This is the spark.” I used AI to manifest the vision of myself I held in my mind’s eye - the woman I knew I was born to become. Then I asked the Goddess for strength. Because magic isn’t just pretty lights and incantations - it’s courage in the dark.

2025 was wild.

I traveled. I organized. I made friends faster than ever before. I became… more. More me.

And yet: the hardest step was still the next one.

Transitioning later in life meant I needed extra help to reach what felt like my destination. At First Event in January, I met other women who had gone through feminization surgery - something I’d thought was out of reach because of my medical history. But thanks to the magic of timing, community, and Dr. Tower at the Spiegel Center in Boston, I arrived.

And now? I’m standing here, full of gratitude that feels too big even for words.

I’m the steward of a communal home that offers transitional housing for trans folks seeking safety and respite. I sit with a movement that’s shifting our country away from dangerous direction. I live in wonder of the gifts bestowed upon me, and I share my story because maybe someone else is just taking the first step.

So what’s next? I’m lit. I’m alive. And? I’m ready.

✨ With awe, with fire, with open arms—