Veni Vidi Vici - Resan Efter: Del 2

2020, Mina Rudin, Swedish, Wilhelmina Rudin,

Original title: "Veni Vidi Vici - Resan Efter: Del 2 - En Självbiografi Av Wilhelmina Rudin" (Veni Vidi Vici - The Journey After: Part 2 - An Autobiography By Wilhelmina Rudin) by Mina Rudin.

In Veni Vidi Vici – The Journey After: Part 2, Swedish author Wilhelmina “Mina” Rudin picks up where her previous volume left off, charting a profoundly human, deeply personal journey of identity, transformation, and resilience. As the title echoes Caesar’s triumphant declaration, I came, I saw, I conquered, Rudin invites readers to witness not just a victory, but a long, courageous path leading toward personal truth and healing. This is not just a memoir; it's a testament. It's a lived experience, unfolding in real-time, as the author shares her ongoing exploration of self through the lens of medical transition, emotional recovery, and professional reinvention. It is a book about becoming, and all the complications, joys, and reflections that come with it.

 

Mina Rudin is a woman with many irons in the fire. Her biography reads like a tapestry woven from multiple careers and interests: she first trained in construction during high school, then shifted to cooking, working in the restaurant industry both in the kitchen and on the floor. But it didn’t stop there. Her growing passion for security and surveillance led her to retrain as a security guard, civilian protection officer, alarm installer, and technician, roles for which she now also holds an electrical installation authorization. Alongside all this, she began coursework to become a safety and security coordinator. This wide array of experiences is not a distraction from Rudin’s central story, it is the story. Her multifaceted life reflects a constant drive to grow, learn, and take control of her narrative. These seemingly disparate threads are united by one overarching theme: a relentless pursuit of agency in a world that so often tries to deny it to people like her. Mina describes herself as a summer person, someone who thrives in warmth and sunlight. It’s a beautiful metaphor for a life that has not always been easy, but has always leaned toward the light.

The Journey After documents the period following Rudin’s initial gender-affirming surgery, a pivotal moment in her transition and in her self-perception. This second volume builds on what was established in her first book, expanding the reader’s view to include the emotional, medical, and existential terrain that follows such a life-changing event. Far from being the end of the story, the surgery becomes a kind of new beginning. Rudin takes us through the realities of post-operative life with honesty, vulnerability, and reflection. There are no romanticized illusions here, just truth. She does not offer her experience as a universal roadmap, but as one possibility, one path through a labyrinth that each trans person must navigate in their own way. The book is structured like a travel journal of the soul, complete with detours, delays, and moments of serene stillness. There are setbacks and uncertainties, but also triumphs: the joy of feeling truly at home in one’s body, the validation of living authentically, and the peace that follows years of internal conflict.

 

One of the most powerful aspects of this book is its immediacy. Rudin is not writing from a place of complete resolution. She is still living her journey as she writes, and she makes no effort to conceal that fact. “While the words fall onto the page,” she writes, “I am still moving forward along the path.” The result is a memoir that feels alive, raw, and in motion. This approach gives the reader a rare kind of intimacy. We are not just observers, we are witnesses, confidants, companions on a path still unfolding. Mina invites us in not only to her past but to her present, speculating openly about her future and the ways this book might one day connect with the previous volume as part of a larger series. It’s not a story with a neat conclusion; it’s a story with momentum.

 

Though deeply personal, Veni Vidi Vici – The Journey After is not just about Mina Rudin. It's also about visibility, representation, and giving voice to transgender experiences in Sweden and beyond. In a world that often reduces trans lives to political talking points or medical case studies, Rudin reclaims her own complexity. She does this not by simplifying her narrative, but by embracing its contradictions. There is longing here, and sadness, but also fierce hope and a quiet kind of happiness. Rudin allows space for everything: for the pain of waiting, for the warmth of friendship, for the joy of progress, and for the messiness of being human. And while the memoir is centered on transition, it is also a work about self-determination in every sense. It is about what it means to reimagine yourself, not just physically, but emotionally, socially, and professionally.

 

The book reminds us that transition doesn’t begin or end with surgery. It’s an ongoing process of discovery, and that process belongs to the person experiencing it. As the final pages approach, Mina returns to the words that have guided her: Veni, Vidi, Vici. But this time, there is a shift. The phrase, once a triumphant endnote, becomes a quiet, determined mantra. She doesn’t just conquer once, she conquers daily. Each new morning is a victory. Each step forward, however small, is an act of resistance against erasure. She writes not to prove anything to anyone, but to make sense of her life in the moment, and in doing so, she offers her readers something rare and beautiful: the chance to see a person becoming themselves in real-time. Whether you're walking a similar path, supporting someone who is, or simply trying to better understand the human experience in all its complexity, Veni Vidi Vici – The Journey After is a necessary read. It's about identity, yes, but it’s also about courage, craft, and the hard-won beauty of owning your truth. As Mina invites us into her life, she reminds us of something profoundly universal: becoming who you are is the most radical act of all.

Mina Rudin is a Swedish author, businesswoman, LGBTQ lecturer, and the founder of Withe Security. She is the author two biographical books: "Mina Rudin - Veni Vidi Vici - Min resa från pojke till flicka: En självbiografi av Wilhelmina Rudin" (2019) (Veni Vidi Vici - My Journey from Boy to Girl: An Autobiography by Wilhelmina Rudin) and "Veni Vidi Vici - Resan Efter: Del 2 - En Självbiografi Av Wilhelmina Rudin" (2020) (Veni Vidi Vici - The Journey After: Part 2 - An Autobiography By Wilhelmina Rudin).

Available via Amazon

Photo via minarudin.se