the fear of dying.

I wouldn't say that I am scared of dying... in fact I think that I have come to terms with the idea that one day, whenever that may be.. I will die. But, in terms of other people dying... I think that although on an intellectual level I know that I have survived my mother's death... and I am a stronger person for it.. it took me 7 years to get to this point... and I am scared... terrified of losing someone else.

Its been a consistent trend in my life for a while now.... I am fully aware that i have done things in my life to protect myself... to not let people love me.. and this whole transition has been in awareness of that fact, and in hopes of changing it.... of letting someone in, of letting the people already in my life in.. and letting them love me... I think I am finally geting to that point, where I feel secure in most of my friendships.... but I know that the theme of my adult life still holds on to some of who I am.

I am completely confronted with that experience now.

J's dad had a stroke on Monday night... and on Tuesday morning, J came to see me after the night shift, and while he was waiting for me to drive me to school he got the call. When I got into the car I knew something was wrong.

The thought of his dad having a stroke didn't much faze me.. in fact I found myself thinking that everything MUST be ok. I told him I didn't know how he was in times of crisis, and asked if he wanted my company, or not. He told me he wanted it.... so we went home, I made him breakfast, took care of the dog got in touch with his brother on his behalf, and we headed out to the hospital.

I stayed my distance at first... considering this was the first time I was going to meet his father... he was upset that these were the circumstances.. and I didn't know how his father would feel. My best friend warned me that this was going to rock his world to see his father in this condition... a sound warning.

I have become so detached from the feeling of being so close to someone that the fear of them dying shakes your core... in fact I would almost say that if anyone died in my life... it would be difficult but I know I have the strength and confiction to get through it.. to survive....

I poked my head into the ICU rom for a moment to ask if J wanted a coffee and introduced myself to his father's gf, asked her about the salad I had made her... and if she wanted a coffee... and went and got it. When I came back, I came in to get the coffee and ended up standing behind J... I didn't know if I should stay or leave.... and asked him.. and he said I could stay. The speach pathologist came by.... and you could tell that it was incredibly frustrating for everyone.. how slow she spoke, how primitive her language was, and how she kept pointing to things, speaking clear and loud so that J's father could try to understand... you could tell the boys were more anoyed at this experience than understanding what was going on.. and in listening to their conversation acted as though everything was ok.. talking to their father as though he would understand everything.. and when he seemed to get confused or frustrated.... they would just repeat themselves...

I could feel the frustration from all parties.. the strain...

and then his father asked who I was.

I wanted to make the experience as basic and as relaxed (the opposite of frustrating) as possible... giving him basic answers to everyuthing... not going into details when he asked where I was from I told him the city I lived in. When he asked what I was doing in school I told him what I wanted to be... simple... and he would throw words out that made no sense... you could tell that his understanding was limited and his ability to communicate was limited... and you could tell this was as far from comfortable as the man had been in years.

I felt bad, that he would know he met me in this state... but at the end of the day, I knew that me being there was more important that formalities, and insecurities around who we portray as people.

J and I took the long way home... he ended up showing me where he grew up and shared a little more of himself with me. He ended up asking me about my biological father... and I told him the story.

We got home and finally the experience hit him... I let him cry and just held him, something I absolutely admire about him... I let him experience the fear, and the worry. and we went to sleep.

3 hours later I got up, and did the homework that I had to do... then made him dinner and woke him up. I asked him what he needed and he told me
"just you, just lots of you"

I'm not sure if I can even let that REALLY sit with me.. to accept the fact that in one of the most life altering experiences of his life.. he wanted me...

He was so thankful for me... and I felt so good to feel like I was helping, that I was making his life just a little bit easier.

Tiem to go to work came... and I told him what I thought... that he didn't need the stress of not having money while this was going on... and that I understodd the need, and want to stay in, to get drunk or stoned and just try to pretend like it didn't happen.. but life happens, and we must keep trucking along.. that I knew the tunnel that trying to run from that feeling has on your life... and I encouraged him to go to work, but told him it wa ultimately his own decision.

He thanked me.. and decided to go...

As he was geting ready the feeling that was under the surface for him bubbled up, the fear of his father dying and of him ultimately not being where he wanted to be in life.
Its weird trying to comfort someone you care so deeply for, in a situation that you have experienced in your life, as a child... to see how difficult it is... and to know that you have already passed the test.. you have experienced the fear... and walked through it... and before there was anyone else to comfort you...

I sincerely hope that this will encourage him to follow his dreams more... push him, as opposed to negatively impact his movement forward... adversity has both options... one lands you in a more grown stage, the other in one that you will regret.

This morning he woke me up by kissing me all over.. .hugging me and cuddling with me... he made me breakfast and took care of me.

He got a call that told him that his dad was much better and that although he wa putting in a few random words from time to time... he was headed for a full recovery...

After I let him experience the relief I was hugging him and I started to cry. I didn't know why.

He kept asking and I just couldn't open my mouth... and he finally said "you don't have to tell me" I told him I didn't know.. and then after a few minutes I hypothesized.

I told him that I think I was scared. .scared that he would have to go through what I've been through... scared for his father and for his family.. and that I am so relieved that I am experiencing that fear... that I was soo sorry for him to go through this experience.... I think there's more there.. there's the loving him part.

I am completely confronted with my love for him.... I love him... but I'm not IN LOVE with him.. .yet... but then I ask myself.... the feeling i feel, the way he makes me feel is more than anything I have EVER experienced... I feel like I am perfect in his eyes... and I am experiencing feeling that way about myself.... its an intense, scary feeling.

a little while later he was hugging me and said "you know what I was saying the other day when I said you needed a family? you do.. you need a husband and children to love you. "

his recognition of this fact.. of the deepest desire of my heart... of my own family was pretty soul bearing... and I hugged him and started to cry. "yes... I do.. but I'm so scared they are going to die"

I am so scared of falling in love... of having something stronger than the attachment I had with my mother... and of losing that.

I am so scared of letting myself be in love.

I have ben aware for a few years now, of how I run from love... intellectually I understand myself and my limitations... but to ask yourself what you are FEELING.. and to be aware.. that the feeling you are experiencing is in fact the result of that desire... and that fear is something almost ironic.

To be so aware that I am standing on a cliff, a cliff where I can keep myself at a distance... and never be fully in love... where I can remain separate... not attached.. .and then, if it happens... it will be easier for me to get over .. or to jump.. to know that I cannot control the future.. that the future will unfold just as it will.... and that letting myself the opportunity of experiencing that pain... is letting myself experience that profound love too.

Its weird to be so aware of your hangups... to be so addicted to the hardships of life that its uncomfortable to start letting things be easier.. of having someone in your life that completely validates who you are... and how unique and special you are.

He's scared too... but I'm more scared.... and we both can feel it.

A few days ago I asked him if I was his girlfriend and he said he can't say that yet because he feels like I am holding back... I agreed...

But this morning he said something about me being his girlfriend... I reiterated. And... as a sign of the times.. in high technological fashion... changed my status on Facebook. But still, I did not put his name... like I still need the space between us...

I want to be able to trust him, to trust myself...

I think one of the things that comes up for me is the idea that he can't possibly be the one.. I was wrong once before.. and the idea of having found the man that I want to grow old with.. to have babies with.. to love and be loved.

I think that he can't possibly be the one... and I don't want to lead him on.. or make him feel that I feel that way.. If I still don't know... but as per usual I am getting way ahead of myself. and things can change....

the thought that keeps running through my head is the idea that my mother could never choose. She never chose.. and as a result was always looking... what if I choose?? not that I am going to do that right now... but what if that was a possibility with THIS man? for me to CHOOSE him.

Everytime I get into a feeling like he couldn't possibly be the one.. I look at everything he is.. and he is EVERYTHING I ever asked the universe for... the only thing that isn't there is stability, financial stability. That's it. But that can come.

So I guess what is confronting is if this could be the one... and there would be no more looking, what else am I going to focus my life on? When that has been my number #1 focus for my entire life... what else will I take on? Where else can I grow... its a daunting task... but one I know will be incredibly fulfilling.

We will however see... I guess right now I just wish that I could let him in fully.... let myself be inlove with him.. in the face of the unpredictable future.. in the face of having my heart, or his heart broken. Letting him in, letting that space in me fill up with gratitude and love.... letting myself fall.

Day 126... reflection

The second date that J and I went on I told him that I believe that a relationship should be there to be a reflection in our lives so we can grow as people. Nothing could be more true of him and I. Last night we started talking about money. Something that I know I am bad at managing, but have never taken on the necessary tasks to learn and manage my finances, and my whole life it has remained alone of the sore spots in my life. And like everything its very difficult to be honest about behaviour that you are not proud of.

Last night I found myself stressed about J's financial situation, trying to figure out how to help him, knowing that I was in no position to teach, or help, but wanting desperately for him to be financially stable.

While I was stressed out I told him, he asked what he could say that would make me feel better, and I told him I needed to be reminded that he's an adult and that this is not my responsibility and he's going to be fine. He reiterated, but then we got to talking.

How do 2 completely different people with completely different lives end up in relatively the same circumstances financially? I wanted to know how he got here... and as he told me I realized my stress was not about him perse, but rather was a reflection of my own feeling of inadequacy in terms of not having money saved up, and all the times I have spent money in a lackadaisical manner.

The art of money... the art of money does not come naturally you need to be taught, and I have never been. I was raised by a very smart woman who didn't know the first thing about money... and I am an emotionally driven person that uses money in that sense, but money is not emotional and life relies on being able to manage your finances, so you can do the things you want to and not spend every day stressing about it.

I think at first J felt attacked, and felt more stressed about me asking about his financial situation, but I think once I clarified and told him I am the same way... he felt a little better.

I realized last night that now that I have gotten a hold of my relationship life, my ability to be in a relationship, I must now start tackling the other areas in my life that aren't working, and like admitting to myself that I was hurting myself with sex, I have to admit that I am hurting myself with money and start getting practical with it.

Its really difficult to open the door on the not so nice things of your life.... its incredibly confronting, except my drive is that I want to be a balanced person for the sake of my future children. I want the misguided irresponsible things to stop with me, so my children can learn these lessons earlier. I am aware, then, that I must change, I must learn, in order to be able to teach them.. which unfortunately means lifting the veil, and being completely honest with myself.

I spend money on ridiculous things, I don't think about it then stress, always stress out about not having enough money at the end of the month.

Its a cycle that I have been on since I was little. I made a pact with J last night that I was going to save every receipt from this month so I can actually look at where I am spending my money. So having in front of me, will allow me to be honest so that things can change. And I thought that I had fixed everything! ha!

On another note... I have fallen more in love with J over the past week. Every time I feel like I am bumping up against a wall, I share and our relationship gets deeper.

There was a point after my cry last week, that we were kissing, and I felt myself in my head strategizing, thinking about how to kiss, how soft, how hard, what I should do, where I should put my hands etc. I caught myself not being int he moment with hm, but rather in my head with planning out and controlling the experience. Once I caught myself I tried to bring my energy back in to my body, I focused on my heart, but every time I felt the energy starting to shift it was like It would bang up against this closed gate that would say "hell no, you are not coming here". After trying a few attempts I had to finally ask myself what was going on... and to my surprise I found myself responding that I was scared.

I grew very sad, very quickly in realizing that I had built up this cushion around my heart, in order to protect myself, and although I was wanting that care, and love to enter, I was scared of letting someone in enough that they could actually hurt me by leaving.... My eyes welled up with the sadness, that my soul was scared to be loved.

There are moment I feel so sad for myself.. not in a pity sense but just sad that I have never had someone make me feel this way... and yet, there was a moment yesterday where I hugged J and said "can you imagine some people NEVER feel this way? How lucky I am to be at a place in my life where I can accept this kind of love and affection in my life!

So anyways, after I let the tears run down my face... and let myself be sad, I felt this door unlock and I felt like I could move back into my heart, grounded and more available for him.

I have basically spent a week here, sleeping over every night, and I have run up against a few of these walls in that time, but every time I just share what's going on for me, allow myself the space to feel what I am feeling, and in so doing each time the gate seems to unlock and we can move forward.

I am letting him love me. And I am letting myself love him.

I tried to explain the feeling I was experiencing at one point when again I found myself up against a "gate" and the only way I could explain it was this:
"It feels like there's this void in my solar plexus, like an empty space, and the closer we get it feels like that space is getting full...but that space is empty because of my mother dying. And once she died I felt like it would never get full again, that space inside me was lost forever... and I've come to terms with that... but here he is, and he threatens that emptiness, and that scares me.... because all of a sudden the space is getting full... and well the repercussions of that is the fear of getting attached..

I suppose the art of love is letting someone in but not getting too attached or dependent... but allowing yourself the enjoyment, being giving and caring of yourself... and allowing yourself to know that whatever happens you will be ok... to not protect yourself at the detriment of your never feeling that way again.

So I'm letting him in... and I am falling in love with him, and he is with me. Sex hasn't come yet, but I want to be responsible about this, and the first thing to that is getting tested, so that we both don't have to worry about anything else besides sex and our innate ability to be able to make babies.

But I will tell you this not only do we compliment each other in most areas of our lives, but we compliment each other sexually. I feel incredibly comfortable and safe around him, and that shows in our sexual intimacy. For the first time in my life I let go last night, and let him pleasure me, enjoy my body and bring me to the height or orgasm that I have never felt before.

I let go and for the first time in my life I experienced why they call an orgasm in french "le petit mort".

I heard once that an orgasm was called that because your bodies chemical reaction is the same thing you feel when you die. and you, in the throws of an orgasm are closer to death than you will ever be. In letting go last night, I felt that feeling, and my whole body couldn't move after, I was out of my body, I was among the stars.

It was a freeing feeling. Something I have longed for my whole life.

And in his beautiful intuitive way after he kept touching my body rubbing me, bringing me back down. I lay there for a good while just bringing myself back into my body... and fell asleep. It was perfect.

It's scary letting yourself go. Its scary giving up the things that you have held onto your whole life (or at least a good part of it) to feel protected... but the shear freedom that comes from letting those things go in the space of someone who is safe.. being as my therapist would say discerning.. about the situation... you free yourself to tackle the next thing.

I don't know where this relationship will end up, and only time will tell, but J is a very very special person to me... in a  way my angel, and his presence gives me the strength to continue on this journey and take on my life.

Now I just have to pry myself away for long enough that I keep the rest of my life in tact. Now I need to incorporate balance in the other areas of my life so that I continue to grow and become the balanced person I want to be.....

the art of falling. day 120

So since Jan23, when I wrote the last post, things have changed. I think the moment happened when I was sad this weekend, hormonal, and hung over I found myself really sad about my step father and not being able to have him in my life. I want to fix this so badly, but unlike other stories you hear of people who are in fights with their family and don't talk to them for years, I'm not in a fight... I just decided that I can't keep trying to get them to want me in their life.... that's it. no anger... in fact I have alot of compassion for them and what has had to happen in their lives to become the people they are.

Sadly though at the end of the day there is nothing I can do. I have written a few letters, trying to explain my perspective, in the hopes that perhaps just knowing my interpretation of things, my story may help to clarify why I behaved the way I did in certain circumstances.... that they may be holding onto with the idea that I am an aweful person... but everytime I'm finished one of those letters I feel like there's no point in sending it, because all they would read was that I was attacking them... trying to make excuses. They wouldn't see that I am trying to fix things while still respecting myself.... and so there I would be... again.. trying to convince them that I am worth having, keeping and loving.

It occured to me, laying in J's arms, that that isn't love. for the first time I realize that they don't love me... because they don't know what love is. Real love is not with all these limits and expectations... love is just because you are. The sad thing is that for years I have felt, unconsciously like "if this is what love is, then I don't want it anymore...." Its freeing to realize that love is not that.... and that its worse telling yourself that someone loves you even though they are treating you like crap..... than just telling yourself they don't love you.... the trick is you have to not take it personally like its something you did wrong... its just their nature.... and your constant attempt to put the past in the past and forgive them when they didn't even say sorry, is unfortunately wasting time..... its freeing but sad... because I miss my home, I miss the property, the silence, the rain in the tin roof... I miss my home.... the smell of the dew, the mist in the valley, the fireflies... I miss my home....

So.... I was laying on J's bed, in his arms, sad. Just sad. All of a sudden this feeling of giving in, letting go, succumbing to the universe, stopping resisting, peace, groundedness came over me..  and it said... "let go...be sad, when was the last time you had someone hold you and care about you when you were feeling like this...just let him. let him care. " and i let the tears come to my eyes while I thought of how much I miss my family and my home... and how desperately I wish I could have them in my life... "

I told J is very few words... just that I was sad... and that I wish I could fix it... and he said you know this is not our fault.. not to sound cliche but you know that scene in Will Hunting when Sean(Robin Williams) tells Will(Matt Damon) that it's not his fault.... well I had a very minor experience of that...

Since I first saw that movie I had so much compassion for Will's character.. and I understood that it wasn't his fault, and that he needed to hear it.... it made complete sense to me that he thought it was his fault... and needed to break that inside him, let that go, realize that he was wonderful and that he didn't ask for the circumstances of his life... that it wasn't his fault... and that emotion that he envokes in the audience, when he finally gives in and lets himself realize that its not his fault, that there's nothing he couls have done to change or fix what happened to him.... when he cries, and lets all the pain go...

well I had a small moment of that... where J said "its not your fault..." and said it again.... and I felt like it wasn't my fault.... and the guilt, for a split second was gone...


Laying in his arms, letting myself cry, and him just trying to comfort me.... for the first time since my mother died... to be held and have the safety of crying.... how much I miss that... how much gratitude I have for being able to experience that feeling inside again.

The little girl inside me is jumping up and down, and is so excited about this relationship.. although I am emotionally not getting too attached, or have many expectations.. just that the little girl, my soul.... is celebrating that I am finally able to let someone in...

and so the walls have started falling and I am letting J in.... trusting him with a little more of me. Feeling more secure... not being so serious, and analytical... just allowing myself to enjoy his company and watch the relationship create itself without any planning... just organically... What a weird feeling... to not try to manipulate this relationship... to not plan, or think of all the different outcomes... just to let it be, to let me be, to let him be... and enjoy.

For years, when my friends told me strategies, rules, books told me I was texting too much, that I needed to let them come to me, that I needed to play a passive role... I interpreted them as rules... and I would feel guilty when I would break them... always telling myself that I am stupid for texting him again... for telling him too much about me too soon... but my argument was always that I want to find someone who just likes me for me.... even if I text too much, or say too much.. that I just want to be me... I want him to know who I am when he meets me... and for me to know him... no bullshit, worried that you can't say this or that within a certain time frame... you can't do this or that.... I told my friends that I don't believe I should be anyone different in order to date a guy.... then I would be myself, get rejected and think.. man maybe I should listen to them... maybe there are rules to follow on purpose... maybe if I just followed them.

Well... I couldn't do it.. I couldn't follow the rules... I couldn't be someone I'm not.... and I found someone who just likes me for me.. I feel 110% fully self expressed... its amazing... I feel more secure in this relationship right now than ever in my last one. That I can say what ever I want... and he doesn't take it personally, he just lets me be me.. and I just let him be him... or atleast I'm trying :P

I took this course when I was 20 and it made an enormous impact in my life, but at 20 I didn't understand the depths to how important self expression is... I thought that I should just be that way with the people in my life... but some don't create the space to do that... and so you don't have to stay, and fix it.. go find someone that loves you for all the things you think, and do... all the things that you think are faults... be fully self expressed....

J lets me be me... and when I am, he likes me even more... its the most incredible feeling.

The other thing that I like about J is that I have this ability to know when something, a thought, an energy about you has changed, especially when we're intimate... and most guys or people for that matter, when you ask them "what's wrong, what are you thinking..." they respond by saying "nothing"... and deny deny deny... but there you are thinking, "no something is wrong.... something is off" and the other person continues to deny it... and then you feel stupid, or off or something close to that...

Well with J when I feel something shift... or change and I know he's really racking his brain... thinking... analzing...I ask him.. "what's wrong, what are you thinking.. something just changed." and he tells me what he's thinking... and sometimes I can even say to him "well stop worrying about that... you have no reason to feel bad...."

I'll give you an example... last night he was working until 3am, and I had to go to school at 10:30, I told him if he wanted me to sleep over that he had to come pick me up... and go back to his place so he could walk the dog because he's been not walking her enough since he met me.... so I went to sleep early, with the understanding he was going to wake me up around 2:30 or 3 am to go to his place... when he finally called it was 4am and I was not in the best moods... I went over to his place and was pretty cranky... and told him that I probably won't be able to do this again.. because it was too much for me...

instantly I felt something change in him and asked him what he was thinking and he told me that he felt selfish for waking me up that he should have just let me sleep and he was sorry.. and because he told me honestly I was able to say to him "well that's silly, don't feel bad, I wanted to come... but I tried it out and its probably not a great idea next time... it has nothing to do with you... just how exhausted I am... please don't worry about it.. I would have been more upset if you hadn't come and picked me up.. we made a plan... we tried it out.. it didn't work... but I'm happy I'm here right now." and because he shared, I shared, and he no longer was beating himself up... and we could enjoy the rest of the time together.

When we finally went to bed at one point my lips were so close to his, and he still wouldn't kiss me.... I should tell you that up until now I just kiss him goodbye.. a quick peck that I initiated... and we haven't kissed properly yet for 2 reasons... one, I wasn't ready, and since I've been, he hasn't initiated it.. and I really wanted him to initiate it. So I was laying there and i said "you're silly." He started asking what I meant by that and I told him that I wasn't going to give him all the answers that he had to figure somethings on his own..at first he went to bad things.. and asked me if I was mad that he took so long to walk the dog.. and I said "of course not... but I'm not going to answer this one... that he had to figure it on his own.... and after a couple minutes.. he leaned in and kissed me.. and we kissed... and kissed... and then I told him he got it right... at first I was dissapointed that I had to sort of prompt him.. but after thinking about it, I know he hasn't learned how to read me just yet, and I would rather that he doesn't try when I'm not ready.... for me to have to say no and get scared.. I would rather teach him, when I am ready, so I can be ready and enjoy. So we kissed...

the funny thing... there was a point when he put his tongue in my mouth, which I hate and I told him.. and when he stopped that the kiss was awesome.

and tonight it happened again... and with his confidence building about being secure in this relationship and not pushing me... he was able to kiss me properly... with his whole self... and it was awesome.

I can't even begin to describe how different this feeling is... he's just perfect for me.. we are so similar I understand what goes on in his head, and he's learning about me..

I am feeling this intense turning of the energy inside me.. from pointing outwards, wondering what people are thinking and doing.. to be internal, focusing on myself and getting in touch with experience.. rather than thoughts.... I feel a turning in... a powerful turn in, where I am the center of my own universe and that I create the things around me.... that I am finally respecting myself... finally appreciating myself, fnally loving myself... and J is an expression of that.

it's amazing.

dating.. the fear of finding what you want.

2 weeks ago I would have told you that all I want is someone who is attentive, caring, thoughtful and interesting, intelligent, experienced, lovely.... and now that I have potentially found that I find myself hesitating, ncomfortable, irritated, annoyed.... its the most bizarre experience.

My brother reminded me today that we only grow when we are feeling uncomfortable and J does exactly that... he challenges me, to be great.

I met him 2 weeks ago, he wrote me on fb, and asked to meet me. He showed up at my house with a jeep, my favorite vehicle... we went for coffee and talked for 5 hours. There was one thing that came up in that first meeting that had me apprehensive.. simply put he doesn't exactly believe what I believe.... and I found myself focusing on that... and not on all the other things we spoke about...

The next day I had a crisis, I found myself wanting to see the guy that had completely disregarded me for the past month, the guy that had stood me up and didn't have any time for me... and with J, well, he had asked if I would come over and I was completely confronted about it... I asked myself why do I want to hang out with some one who doesn't want me and not want to hang out with someone who does? What is wrong with me??

After talking to my cousin and my room mate I decided to not force myself... but still felt frustrated with myself.... that I was stopping myself in some way.

The next day, after debating for hours I invited him to hang out with me... and he jumped at the chance, over beers I ended up being completely honest with him and told him that I was hesitant about him because I believe relationships are there for you to grow and I don't want to date someone who I am constantly trying to defend what I believe in, as opposed to growing from the insights I have already had in my life... and learning.. moving forward. He reminded me that he wasn't opposed to what I believe in, he was simply curious... Of which I was reminded and told him that's why we are on a second date.

I felt that perhaps I had told him too much, but that I absolutely hate how in relationships when 2 people aren't honest with what's going on in their heads, the other person speculates but can never know, and then there are misunderstandings, misinterpretations and miscommunication. It was important for me that he knew what I was struggling with in continuing to date him, and that it wasn't that he wasn't a great person, or nice, or anything else....

After telling him, I felt alot more relieved about getting to know him further... because now he knew where I stood. He knew my primary concern.

It has since occured to me that unlike myself, he was raised in a very religious family, and the evolution of his belief structure had him question everything he had been taught as a kid and stepping outside of those beliefs challenges your family dynamics as well as your belief structure... and to have patience.



He asked me if he could do something cheesy with him on Monday, and so, knowing that I was struggling with allowing him in my life, I agreed. He took me to glow in the dark mini put, for sushi and then to his place to watch movies.... our conversation completely flowed over the course of the day, and we had so much in common, and yet I found I could barely look at him at all, to connect on any other level felt really uncomfortable. I found myself  to just be with him, and not judge him by his looks or the little things that annoyed me about him, some of which I am very aware are things that I hate about myself.. and so it sort of makes sense that I would find them frustrating in another person as well... primarily his goofiness, his foolishness and his insecurity... its weird to be aware of your own foolishness and limitations and still relate to them and struggle against them.

We have since hung out almost every day since then, and I consistently enjoy his company, the more I hang out with him, the more I like him, and yet there is this part of me that is trying to find as many things wrong with him as possible...

The other day he asked me about this test I took, and I found myself getting annoyed with him. I caught myself in the moment, realizing that I said it was fine with  "fuck off" undertone... and I decided to talk to him about it. I told him that I appreciate that he's concerned and that he's asking me about it, but that I am annoyed.. and it makes no sense... that there's nothing to fix, its just difficult for me to have someone pay that much attention to me, and to be that interested in me... it was a weird experience... its a weird experience.

I feel like I have been asking for this for so long, the universe is giving it to me and saying "are you sure?" and I don't know if I am sure.

I am so scared to be intimate with him.. I have only given him 4 good bye kisses... short closed mouth kisses.... and that's all I can do. My brother said that up until this point sex has been a way of me getting something and that if I get to a point with him where I am being intimate sex will become an expression of how I feel, and it will be the most amazing experience. That I am challenging myself to allow the drama to subside and to let someone good into my life.

Its so frustrating to get hung up on stupid things like looks or expressions... my past has taught me that looks are not important.. and yet here I am challenged and struggling.

He told me that I am amazing.. that I just let him be himself and that he has never met someone who can keep up to him intellectually... that he just feels comfortable with me.. and that he really really likes me.

what people think - day 102

So basically today I feel ridden with anxiety.... just this pressure in my chest, its the same pressure you get when you are worried about an assignement or presentation, that you aren't good enough, its where the heaviness of life weighs on your chest.

I'm really restless today with no motivation.. and I am trying to find something to distract me, but I have no motivation to move to find that distraction... I have no TV shows I want to watch, no movies I want to watch... I don't want to get out of bed.. I'm just here, in bed... wishing that it would all just end.... just poof, I'd be gone and I don't have to go through this....

I can't even tell you how hard this is...

and all I can think of is how nice it would be to have someone to call right now to sleep with... just let all the energy in my body have an outlet in another human being... connection... intimate connection... its killing me to not have that right now.

This whole experience is crazy... wanting to have sex soo badly but having the conviction to never sleep with someone who doesn't care about me again is sooo hard.. I have been tempted, but I just can't sell out on myself... its insane... like I'm pulling myself in 2 different directions.... and its so difficult to face decisions you've made as a kid and make different ones... like not letting things progress to sex, just cause you are in a bed with an attractive drunk man... to say no is a whole new experience for me... to stop the progress....

basically I have recently been getting a lesson in letting things just run their natural course.... which is so far beyond my comfort zone..  I have this part of me that thinks that guys are retarded.. and so if I let them control the situation we'll never get any where.... but then I've realized that my problem is that I will always meet you half way... always... but I'm always the first one out of the starting gates... so I move my 50% and when you don't move yours I try and compensate so I'll move 70, 80, 90 till I'm at 100% and you don't have to do anything for the relationship and I feel completely ripped off.

So I'm trying to be self disciplined and letting people come to me.... but when they don't its such an awful feeling... I feel deserted like there's something wrong with me.... it's soooo difficult.

The moments I feel like someone doesn't like me, I immediately want to know why... why do they not like me.. what about me is bad... so I can fix it... I am basically trying to fix myself 100% of the day and its exhausting... the only time that I am not is when I'm drunk and dancing...

I care so much what people think about me that I've been noticing in big groups I just want to sit in the corner and talk to one or 2 people... because the anxiety gets so strong, its no longer 1 or 2 people judging you.. its 10 or 20.... its unbelievably frustrating.

Last week I ended up recounting what my childhood was like in terms of friends, to one of my friends... you know after a while it becomes just a story you tell people, with no emotional attachment.. well this time I actually was remembering the feeling... how it felt to be me as a child... and it was sooo awful.

I HATED recess... with a passion, I would do what ever I could to not have to go out for recess.. I never had friends.. and I used to get tormented on the school yard.. in grade 3 I got beat up... its really crazy to actually think that that happened to me... kids were vicious to me... well atleast that's what I remember.. and I was really smart too, so I used to get teased for that.. I was poor so I got teased for that.. my mom would make me tuna sandwiches and soup and I'd get teased for that... I was always bigger than the other kids so I got teased for that... then I just got teased cause kids had nothing else to do with their time.. I HATED school, other than the learning.. I loved the learning...

anyways, without getting into too much detail... I never had a close friend until grade 9 and then she ditched me... I thought I had a close friend in this guy that I had a crush on for all of high school, but i found out in OAC that he had lied to people in grade 10 and 11 about us even being friends... so.. truthfully it hasn't been until the past couple of years that I actually felt secure in any relationship in my life...

yup... that's basically it... as far as I'm concerned.. there is something terribly wrong with me... and all I have ever wanted to be is cool... so I don't stick out so much, so that people won't just desert me cause I'm not cool... that's always been my goal.. to be one of the cool kids... oddly enough no matter what I've done... I have NEVER been that cool kid.... and most likely because I am soooo concerned with being odd and weird, and having people judge me... I am rarely just myself.

I don't embrace my own uniqueness, and love that I am different.. I don't want to be different.

I can't even really articulate what its like to worry all the time about what people think about you... strangers on the street even.. its so crazy. I'm starting to be aware of how rediculous it is... not only to think people are judging me... but that it even matters... but there it is.. every day... this tormenting in my head, and I am trying to change... I am trying to fix myself so that it'll go away...

But now intellectually I am identifying that I can't fix myself... there are things that will evolve.. but that who I am is fundamentally perfectly flawed... even though I am starting to recognize that... I am still bombarded with these thoughts... feelings, anxieties...

and lets be honest.. when my go-to escape from these feelings was always sex... not having it is allowing the pressure to build.. forcing me to feel this pain.. and its SOOOO UNCOMFORTABLE... I mean... I would do anything to not feel this feeling in my body right now... its stuck there, like a piece of me.

When i breathe into the pressure it dissipates for the duration of my breath.. and then its there again.

stupid feelings of inadequacy!

I know that its completely illogical.. but here I am, obsessed.. and it stops me in my life it stops me from having fun.. it stops me in so many things... because of that feeling I'm sure I judge other people because I constatnly feel judged. its  a defense.. I totally am self defeating, I'll make jokes about myself.. just to beat other people there so it doesn't hurt as much... its all so rediculous... and knowing that its rediculous doesn't change the fact that here I am... still doing it... I just want to NOT CARE about what people think of me... or atleast be able to take it for what it is.... oh stupid balance.


On another note... or the same, depending on how you look at it... I went on a date last night with this really nice guy... quite sweet... I could see us getting to know eachother better... but where I fall short in thinking that the relationship could go any further is the fact that he doesn't yet believe what I believe in. 5 years and I have only met 2 men that I was attracted to that believed in what I believe in... I can't even tell you how frustrating that is...

I have recently come up with my own hypothesis about the evolution of belief structure... because for some reason I feel that what I believe in is the next step to most people's belief evolution.. and its not that I think what I believe is necessarily better.. its just I guess the truth... and even though that's hard for me to admit... that's what I think... because I find it wrong that religions push their beliefs on people and say... mine is better than yours.. mine is right, yours is wrong..

I guess I just don't want to be part of that mentality.. but I guess I will take a moment to explain why I think what I believe in is right.... because it embraces all the great things about all the religions around the world, love, acceptance, beauty, divinity, compassion, connection, eternity, light, oneness... and lets all the crappy stuff go, all the stuff about guilt, and fear, and eternal damnation... what I believe in is the light.

So because of this, my hypothesis is this about the evolution of western beliefs.

Most of us are raised in some sort of religion, Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Muslim.... what I know about each religion is besides that these religions all have love, acceptance, beauty, divinity, compassion, connection, eternity, light and oneness at their core... they have been bombarded and limited through rules, power structures, fear, sin, by a method of mysticism... ironically, most of it is ridiculous  mysticism... and we are mesmerized, because we connect with something about the religion.. because of course at its foundation is the truth... but in order to get to the truth we are lied to... and told that its limited, and that we have to do all these things to get to it...

We are told that we are constantly judged by this man in the sky... and especially as children we believe in this so much it terrifies us... and for some this fear never ceases. but for some, the veil starts to drop and we start questioning this belief structure.. like something doesn't fit... this can't be all of it.. that some people have a monopoly on love and acceptance.. on god.

For me I don't think I ever believed in God in the regular terms of God, I remember as a very young child believing in what i believe now... and not exactly being sure where that belief came from... but the monopoly made no sense, the judgement by the devine, the rules, and eternal hell made no sense, and so from a very young age I felt different with no arsenal to defend what I believed in.... but back to my hypothesis.. when people start questioning the beliefs that have been enstilled in them from their childhood a great sense of feeling ripped off, being duped, being lied to becomes sooo strong and many of us then become what is termed athiest... when our intellect gets ahead of our intution all that belongs to religion seems rediculous... and the man at the top.. in the sky seems so retarded we tend to disrgard all the other great parts of religion.. because if the basis for the religion... god, ala, etc couldn't possibly exist....

So then there must be nothing.

I feel that many athiests tend to be as passionate about their non-beliefs and those that believe.. and many go out of their way to fight for what they believe in, because, I believe it comes from a  place of wanting to wake other people up to the rediculousness of religion.... and many people get stuck here...

and then there's the agnostic path... sometimes this comes before atheism and again after... but always after. Where in life things happen... things we can't explain, we start having moments where our intution saves us, we meet people that we feel we know... we know that something bad is going to happen before it does... what ever it is.. there are moments in our life that make us question whether there really is NOTHING... and we start feeling like there must be SOMETHING.. we just don't know what that is...

this transition is incredibly difficult.... because believing in NOTHING is easier than believing in SOMETHING... because if you believe in something.. most of us need evidence.. we need hard evidence.. I believe this is because we are so terrified of getting duped again.. which many people do on this side of the journey.. by other people that are manipulators, like those at the top of religions... there are people that will use our innate connection with the devine to make money, without knowing the truth... and so we are all very wary of getting lied to again.. and so how does one sift through all the lies.. to find the truth?

I have gotten in the habit of just trying on what people say... just sitting with it for a moment and asking myself if it resonates with me.. does it make sense on a fundamental level for me... and if it does I take it with me on my journey.. and if it doesn't I discard it... somethings I have discarded originally and as my understanding expands there's a new foundation to embrace explanations once thought rediculous in my own head...

But regardless of the beliefs you establish in your own life... its a constant struggle between questioning whether you are being duped again.. and right now, the fact that most people still don't agree with what I believe in I tend to feel crazy.... weird, and potentially wrong.

There are very few people that I have met that are at the same space in their evolution that I am.... where they are establishing their own belief structure and are constantly in a space of introspection, trying to get to the bottom of themselves, and life in general...

ITs VERY LONELY.

 So... why do I believe that I am right? Because I don't need you to agree, I don't need you to believe in what I believe in for me to have the key to heaven... I know in my heart.. that one day you will get there.. but completely on your own terms, in your own way, with your own experiences... because the truth can only lie inside.... no one can tell you the truth. There can only be people that help along the way.

So, yes loneliness.. in all my life I have met very few people that believe in what I believe in.. and most of them are older.... and men? I have only met 3 men my age that believe in what I believe in.... its so important to find a partner that I can share how difficult this journey is without being judged or assessed or thought of as crazy... so I remain single.... trying desperately to find someone to connect with... and sometimes I convince myself that I can let it go and be with someone who doesn't agree.. but I know in my heart I can't.. because its the most difficult thing in my life... and not having someone to share that experience with... its like not having someone at all... its sanitizing what I believe in... just to have a body next to me...

the balance between believing in what I believe in and not wanting to be different is sooo difficult... i just want to hide... dig a whole in the sand and go to sleep for ever.

i wish this were easier.

Balance

So one thing that's starting to come into my consciousness is balance. the true definition of balance... and a word I heard today discernment.... I find that when analyzing myself when I find something about myself that I don't like I label it as a "flaw" I put a sticker on it and tell myself that its bad and that I have to stop behaving like that... then something will happen that will cause me to act that way, and I say to myself that it works, so I don't want to change.... what I am realizing is that this is the fundamental to balance.... really getting there must exist every reaction, every feeling inside in order to have balance.

In order to have balance you must live in the physical world, and the spiritual world, neglecting either makes you less than whole.

So we should all want to be everything. For me the ways of being that make me uncomfortable are things like liar, cunning, deceitful, angry, mean..etc. But the truth is, knowing when to be this way, knowing where the balance is, not staying too far to one way... will help life along.

Balance.

I find it really hard to change my behaviour because some of the things that I want to change are actions that embody who I am proud to be.. but I have never been able to discern when and when not to embody those characteristics. For example... caring. I never not care... I always care... mostly to my own detriment. I ALWAYS CARE.. and it is exhausting, and mind fucking... because honestly.. caring about little fucking thing that happens in your life is a full time job.. its rediculous.. but up until now I've thought that not caring about 1 thing meant I didn't care about anything.. and I never wanted to be considered a non-caring person... so... its the balance that I need to find.... I need to learn how to discern when to care and when not to care.

When to worry when not to worry
When to cry and when not to cry
When to laugh and when not to laugh
When to speak up and when to not speak up.
When to tell the truth and when not to tell the truth
When to speak and when to not
When to care and when not to care
When to appreciate and when not to appreciate
When to praise and when not to praise
When to read and when not to read
When to clean and when not to clean
When to eat and when not to eat
When to drink and when not to drink
When to exercise and when not to exercise
When to fight and when not to fight
When to sleep and when not to sleep
When to cook and when not to cook
When to wake up and when not to wake up
When to be social and then not to be social
When to be quiet and when not to be quiet
When to listen and when not to listen
When to play and when not to play

Its knowing the balance between all the "to" verbs, while BEING compassionate, LOVING, BEING aware. Its the balance.... not stopping being someway... stopping being that way at the appropriate times.

VULNERABLE. now that is a word that spooks a lot of people. I think that I have a weird association with the word vulnerable, because I was raised thinking it was a really good trait, while most people, I believe were raised to think that it was a really really bad trait... and "that's how you get hurt" as a result there's me who is always vulnerable... putting myself out there ALL THE TIME... and then you have all those other people who, no matter what you do, will NEVER be vulnerable.. its like the freaking plague... no way in FUCK, they will ever let you and your potential for them to hurt you in.

So here... we have to meet both ways... I need to learn when to be vulnerable and when not to, and protect myself, and those of you that are never vulnerable need to learn there is always a time and place where you can be.... and that's why love exists... allowing you to be that way.. you just need to know who to do it with... and that's the part about growing up... learning who to trust and who not to.... not just trusting everyone... or trusting no one.


Its the balance.... that we all need to find.. I think mine is just a little skewed the opposite way than most people...

So... Balance.

You know what's interesting... I've heard balance is the key to life in so many books, by so many people, but it wasn't until tonight that I really got what that meant to be balanced.... in every reaction, action, feeling, moment... to be balanced in life.... and that is probably one of the main reasons for alot of my struggles... because I'm too far one way.

BALANCE.

Another thing I heard today was that self discipline is one of the most blissful experiences in life. I have never thought about self discipline as being a positive emotional experience... I have always associated self discipline with doing something you don't want to do, and so am very lacking in this element..... I have never thought that self discipline will make me happier, will be soothing, and caring, and kind.... not to mention blissful... so now, maybe having  a different relationship to being self disciplined... hopefully the idea that self discipline will bring bliss, will encourage me to pursue things in my life that teach me that... but again, I need to remind myself of the balance.. and still keeping room for freedom, and spontaneity

Finally my friend and I were speaking tonight and he said... "you know when you just ruin something by speaking about it? When its better just experiencing it?.. that what talking about love is like.... you just ruin it by analyzing it, and trying to explain it.... you can't, you ruin it with words".

I have ever been told this, and if I have I have aptly ignored it. I have never allowed myself to believe that speaking could ruin something.... This profoundly affected me.

I want to know how other people are feeling all the time... I'm curious about other people's motivations and their thoughts, and their interpretations.. I am constantly comparing myself with other people and trying to figure out whats normal, and what's not... how I am different, and how I can be the same... I try to explain my feelings.... and get advice and figure out what to do next.... I never just experience it... and not talk about it.... so.. I guess... unfortunately, I have to admit I have a tendency to ruin things with words. :(

It never even occured to me that this was possible.... but alas, I found out today it is.... and hopefully that will inspire me to better recognize when to talk about things, and when to not....

Ah the balance. I think the key to the balance is not changing what you do, but be inspired by doing it differently, and experimenting to find when one way works, and when doing the opposite works better.... and the more you experiment, the more you know when to behave one way and when to behave another... but this time, unlike being a child, they are not decisions to NEVER be a certain way, but rather to CHOOSE when and where and with whom to be that way.

fucking balance :P






you kill the experience with words.

Who I want to be

Obviously the past couple of weeks have had their share of experience, and realizations, but tonight I want to write down who I want to be. I've written lists of the man I want, goals, bucket lists, shopping or to do lists... but never have I written down who I want to be, what traits I admire in other people that I want to embody... and I am hoping in doing this I will start being able to look at it and have new goals in my life, and have something to compare my growth against... because right now, it seems as though I have alot in my head, but no practical way of getting there. So here goes

I want to be fit.
To be really healthy, with a body that I am proud of.
a yoga frequenter. I want to be happy
to be the kind of person that goes for a walk every morning and every night.. even if its short, just to enjoy being outside, and appreciate that time.

I want to know how to eat properly, always making meals fun and exciting for my family, but healthy and delicious.

i want to be smoke free, and besides the occasional glass of wine, alcohol free.

I want to be a camper, and know everything I need to bring, and have in order to camp.
I want to know the stars, so I can teach my kids.
I want to be able to play the guitar and the piano so I can make music with my kids. I want to be clean, I want my house to always be tidy and presentable. I want to have a wake up routine, and a going to sleep routine, to find the things that make me feel really good when I wake up, and really good before going to sleep.

I want to take photographs every where I go.
I want to be confident and proud of who I am.

I want to have confidence in myself and the choices I make,and not need to have to get everyone else' opinions when making a decision.

I want to be a volunteer, and have something where I am giving for no other reason than to give.

I want to have hobbies and have things to do that are fun... really fun.

I want to be organized and on top of things, financially. I want to write... plan things and keep track of things.

I want to moisturize every day.
I want to send thank-you notes.

I want to be confident
I want to have money to do the things I love.

I want to read before bed.
I want to know music better, and be aware of the music scene

I want to sit and read the Newspaper on Saturday mornings with a cup of tea in the kitchen.
I want to have routine, but be able to be spontaneous.
I want to be independent.

I want to put my clothes away when they are washed. I want to do the laundry more frequently.

I want to not run out of things and have the forsight to buy items before they run out.

I want to meditate frequently.

That's what I have right now. We'll see how it goes... first thing I'm feeling is coming up with an evening and morning routine, and going from there.

Christmas thoughts

today is the birth of the sun... after three days of staying still upon the southern hemisphere, it begins its 6 month journey back across the sky. The birth of the new year... birth, growth and nourishment. The sun is born today. thank god.

My step father didn't call me today. For the first time in my life.

I didn't really know what I was going to do if he did... because I felt like our relationship had completely disintegrated... and I was finally trying to accept what it is... but I think it surprised me that he didn't. I guess I just feel like he has no reason to hate me that much. I've never done anything to make him hate me.


Never-the-less... whatever he thinks, he thinks... and I can't fight anymore.


I was not sad today. I was neutral. Completely neutral. and here I sit, at the end of the day... pondering. I've been watching a lot of movies this week and observing the characters in each, the different personas each character takes on... and the stories each tells.

It has had me looking at the things I don't understand about people... and myself. I would consider myself someone that always wants to know about how people think... why they think the way they do... what propels them, what shapes them, what makes them think the way they do.


Its amazing how we miscommunicate with everyone.... always the other person hears something different... all we can hope for is they get our intention... at the very least.


Tonight I watched a movie called The secret in which a daughter and her mother get into a car accident and the mother's spirit finds her way into the daughters body.. and learns about her daughters life. After a movie I tend to step back and ponder its meaning.... and this time a very strange thing happened.


I felt like I haven't been myself for years. Like I got lost somewhere... completely desensitized myself, and lost my passion.


I feel like I'm me... but for the recent past I am struggling with who that is. I am in the proccess of saying good bye to my youth. and its sad.. and scary. But at the same time its exciting because in a weird way growing past this point in my life is embracing the person I was before the world got hold of me... and made me into something I am not.


When I was young I hate smoking, in fact I was hell bent on never doing that.. and then something changed... I was lonely and I felt like that was the way I could relate... and somewhere I started identifying with smoking... and started feeling like I couldn't handle life without it.


When I was younger I was an artist... I wrote poetry.. I made things all the time. and in a weird way I know that in order to move into the new stage of my life I need to embrace those parts of me that have been buried for so long, the parts of me I was scared to show.... they are still hiding deep inside me.. waiting til its safe.


As for the dating thing.. I feel like I am a fish out of water... i know that I haven't learned about dating.. and its a learning process... but I just feel crazy. This whole thing with Nick is crazy... I feel so out of my element... and then I do crazy things... and I can't temper myself.. I get obsessive... and hung up on things... its crazy. Why can't I just let things be? why do I have to compartmentalize everything... and control everything? Why I can't just let things be?


I am so scared of falling into the same relationship I had with my ex.... that I don't want to not listen to my intuition.. but when do you know when its your intuition and when do you know its your insecurities?Its difficult to look at behaviour and not take it personally.. but rather look at it with an objective eye and say.. yes I want this.. no I don't want that... this I can  live with... this I can't.... and when it becomes all about how I feel.. things get confusing... and dramatic. So how do you maintain balance? between being still engaged... but not having your emotions control your behaviour I had such clarity last night... and yet here I am today wondering if perhaps I am just not giving him enough credit. What I know is I care too much what other people think of me.. and I don't know how to change it... because I will never be at a place I want if I continue sanitizing who I am in order to apeal to a false sense of qualities someone else wants in me.


Its fucking crazy.... the other thing I realize is that I look at the world in many situations in black and white.... but so much is gray.. SOOOOO MUCH... take my personality for instance... if one thing isn't working I think... that everything must not be working... and its taken until recently for me to realize that in fact I am an awesome person with a lot going for her... its just a few things that need tweaking.


I don't have enough going on in my life.... so I obsess over guys. I need more to entertain me... I need a freaking life. but who is that? what does that look like?


I feel like a freaking teenager again... so confused about who I am and what I want, where I want to go... how to handle life... I feel blind.

Despite this feeling of confusion... I am pretty satisfied. I am not pitying myself.. I just have wide eyes for the future. wondering whats going to happen.

Finally accepting the death of my mother in its entirety. I was ok today. In fact I had a lovely day. I was happy... and felt loved. No feeling sorry for myself.


today is the birth of the sun... after three days of staying still upon the southern hemisphere, it begins its 6 month journey back across the sky. The birth of the new year... birth, growth and nourishment. The sun is born today. thank god.

Christmas.

Oh Christmas... the holiday every year that reminds me how alone I am in the world.... well... I guess that's what it has felt like every year since my mother died.

Every year I try to come up with the most entertaining thing to do so I don't really feel. I distract myself.... trying so desperately to do anything but think of my mom not being here.

The first year I went back to the farm and tried to spend Christmas with my step dad's family and it was suffocatingly difficult. The next year I did the same but this time my ex was with me which made it tolerable... and the next year I went to his, because I just couldn't spend Christmas with that family again. The next year I went to my brother's. And the next year I was in Korea.. and the following I spent it again at my brother's. This year. This year I am spending it at home. I am not going anywhere... I am not making a big deal of it... I am just experiencing a christmas at my own place.. with no drama.

It's the first year I don't feel sorry for myself. Its the first year that I am starting to see just how wonderful the people in my life are... the people that are concerned for my welbeing. I have been asked where I am going to spend Christmas by numerous people offering me the chance to come to their house.. inviting me to spend Christmas with them. I am so blessed.

Perhaps tomorrow I may have a cry about what I have lost... what I no longer have... but I know I will spend the majority of the day being ok.

Its an interesting feeling free of the intense heaviness in my chest I have felt for years... its amazing to be free from the prison of self pity I have been inside of for years.... it actually feels amazing to let myself be ok without my family... no more guilt. I have accepted what my life is... and I feel euphoric.

The more you think that your life should be different, the more you tell yourself that you aren't good enough, that you should have done that... or this... the more you beat yourself down.... the heaviness grows. The more you embrace it and love every single moment of your life... the more you tell yourself "you've done all you knew how to do. and you did an awesome job.... look!"  the heaviness dispurses. The heaviness lightens....

Who knew?

There's no reason to feel guilty... there's no reason to feel like anything tragic is your fault. life happens... its what you do with life that is the question.

You know when you feel so sad.... and you just wish there was something. ANYTHING to make you not feel what you are feeling? the answer is this.
let it go. 

What I would say if I could.

I would say to the guy I'm dating... if I ever had the opportunity... "no thank - you, I'm not interested."
and if he had the decency to ask why I would say...

"Well apparently you've been hanging out with my ratarded self.... the one who thought your behaviour was excusable... you stood me up twice in a week.. TWICE. you made me sit around for you all day... for no fucking reason. yes you apologized... and maybe apologies have worked in the past... but this is bullshit. You made me feel like complete shit.... and for some moronic reason I convinced myself that you were better than me.. you were better at this whole dating thing.. that you have it all together and I'm a retard... but no... really? you are an ass hole. and I'm an idiot for not seeing it the first day.

I like myself better than that.... than to be with a guy that makes her feel like shit. I hope I never find myself even attracted to ass holes like you...so no thank-you.. I'm not interested in seeing you again. .. I'll let you date girls who need you to treat them like shit. .... but I'm not that girl anymore. .."

A