Navigating small community dynamics

I (40F) came out earlier this year and most of my early WLW dating experience so far has been with women who are bi/pan who I’ve met from apps and not super involved with the local gay community. These women also often have experience with men, which feels relatable since I was previously married to a man for nearly a decade. I live in a midwestern city where most of the queers settle down at a young age, and the vast majority of lesbians I know locally are partnered.

I’ve been prioritizing spending more time building up my local queer community, and as I do I’m starting to meet more lesbians who have much stronger ties in the community. This also means I hear a lot more gossip about their dating history/experiences/potential interest in me as someone who is new to the scene than the women I’ve dated who aren’t as involved with local queer community. Something about this makes the idea of dating the well-connected more experienced lesbians much more intimidating to me. I think there is a bit of apprehension and intimidation on my part by the idea of seeing them as potential dating partners, because I still feel very baby gay (even though I hate the term) and like I’m not sure if I can keep up.

I’m curious if anyone has ever navigated something like this and any advice? I guess basically how do you make the social transition from baby gay to toddler gay and not get intimidated by the doctoral level gays.