living lies

the more people i talk to about the impending dissolution of my marriage, the more i find that i really am not alone in this feeling of emptiness and unhappiness. the more i find there are other guys in the same, or at least very similar situations. married, but to a roommate, to a business partner, to a colleague… not married to a lover, to a best friend, to a confidante or to an actual life partner.

is this just the inevitable place people end up in, or is it the product of poor communication over years? is it blindness to problems in the early days, or is it just normal personal growth and change? how do successful long term relationships work? is it just luck? is it hard work? is it fundamental compatibility at a deeper level?

i told my brother about what’s going on last night. i think it shook him. and then in an attempt to make me feel better he told me about his current situation… which didn’t necessarily make me feel better, because i don’t want that for him. he seems to be feeling just as alone, and has been leaning on alcohol to get him through most nights. i want to help him, but i don’t know that i can right now.

i also told 2 of the guys who work directly for me, mostly because i had to explain my absence to them. one of the guys already saw it coming, we talked a bit about it in september, but before there was this finality present. the other one though… fuck. he already has a very real social behavior issue of not being able to shut the fuck up, and now that he knows this about me, he has not been able to shut up. he is trying to offer sympathy, offer advice, offer friendship, offer distraction… don’t get me wrong, his intentions are appreciated, but it is way too fucking much and is only raising my stress level. he came with me in the car on the ride to the restaurant last night and i swear to god, that was the most infuriating 45 minutes i have spent in a long time. i bit my tongue so damn hard the whole time, just trying to remind myself his intentions are good.

it’s just a matter of time now before the rumor mill starts at work. several people asked me if i was ok last night because of my recent weight loss. certain people made a really big deal about it, which honestly, i didn’t really want, but what am i going to do, give someone shit for trying to compliment me? anyhow, i expect next week will have a few new people reaching out to me asking if i’m ok and making puppy dog eyes.

i may not always be right, but i am never wrong.

thing 1

every year on christmas eve, we all gather at my parents house to celebrate. it has been this way for decades. it is the tradition.

my sister lives about 7-8 hours away and has come down with her kids and boyfriend in tow every single year without fail. we only really get to see each other about twice per year, so this is always a very special and welcome visit.

unfortunately, this year in particular, my sister’s boyfriend has decided that christmas eve will be spent with HIS family instead and that they will not be coming to see the rest of us like usual. apparently he is being completely adamant, and allegedly unpleasant about it. this has sent my sister into near hysteria.

so, yesterday morning my brother and i got a text from mom saying that christmas eve will need to be postponed a week until new years day in order to accommodate my sister. my brother replied immediately saying that was fine with him, but i chose not to reply just then, because for me, this really is not ok and i wanted to think on it a bit first.

lets do some math. if we go through with this, then my sister will be upset anyways because she is not spending christmas eve with her family, and everyone here will be upset as well as we will all be effectively forbidden from seeing each other on christmas. disaster all around. alternately, if we decide to have christmas without her, then my sister will be upset, and the rest of us will of course miss her, but we’ll still have our christmas and the kids will all be happy. which is worse? it seems pretty obvious.

after calling my mom last night and explaining this to her, she agreed. my dad, of course, in the background commented angrily that this is the same thing he was trying to explain to her as well. so after we got off the phone, she called my sister to sort things out. i’m not sure how that went, but in the end my mom sent another text saying christmas would be on the 24th like usual.

thing 2

k has been very stubborn about her budget. she is doing some unrealistic calculations and estimates and the end result is she doesn’t believe she can afford anything other than a literal hovel. i have tried to show her more realistic numbers. two banks have given her numbers on what kind of mortgage she could afford, and yet she has remained solidly fixed on her estimates.

she’s gone to see several houses now which fit in this price bracket and they are all… less than pleasant? like they need work, they need renovations. and then they could be very nice, but they are not move in ready.

i have tried a few times now to show her listings that are a little more expensive, but still VERY affordable, that have already been renovated. homes which are move in ready. and she has snubbed her nose up at each and every one of them saying “too expensive, i’m not even going to look”.

well, last night after visiting 2 houses in her price bracket, and calculating some of the time and money needed to renovate them… she can back and admitted that i was probably right and that she was being unrealistic about her budget.

yet another reason why things are broken between us. how many times have i tried to tell her something only to be completely dismissed so she can go and figure it out on her own and ultimately realize i was right all along. how the heck is that a partnership? where is the trust? anyways… i’m happy that she has started to reconsider her budget considerations, this will open up several much better, less stressful opportunities for her.

what is this

i’m feeling kind of anxious today. not sure about what, but it doesn’t feel good. nothing bad has happened, there are no signs of anything bad about to happen, no one has said anything weird or suspicious, yet my spidey senses are on overdrive.

my legs are shaking a mile a minute, my concentration is completely shot, my stomach feels like it is turning over itself, what the hell is going on?

i need to calm myself down somehow, but i don’t really know what will work. for real, the only thing that comes to mind is eating cookies or something… which is strange as fuck, because i can’t even remember the last time i ate a cookie. so why am i craving cookies for comfort right now?

i’m racking my brain to try figure out where this feeling is coming from, but i’m coming up empty… and this focus, or whatever focus i can actually muster, is also making the feeling on anxiety even more intense. if anything, i should be hopeful, exited even… but not this, this feeling of impending doom right around the corner.

like an onion?

this inverse insomnia shit is getting really old now. being up this early has no advantages really, my brain has not started really functioning yet, my body is still asleep… so i just zone out. not thinking, not moving, just awake. at least when i had sleeping issues on the other end of a good night’s sleep and i was just staying up late, then i could DO something. it may not have always been the best thing to do, it always involved a lot of over thinking and usually a healthy dose of alcohol… but still at least there was something going on. i would play guitar, i would write here, i would read, i would work on things i needed to get done…

anyhow, this is just my reality at the moment it seems. perhaps in the coming months this will change.

i still wonder sometimes if i am making a huge mistake. i wonder if maybe i should just take everything back and live with my sadness, my disappointment, my frustration and feelings of dissatisfaction? would it be easier? it would be less effort. i mean, i probably could spend the rest of my life in that state and just try to find little bits of happiness elsewhere… right? like, lots of people must do that, right?

when i think about this, the worst part is, i am not concerned about feeling like i will regret this or anything like that. i am concerned about the amount of effort that will be required to get there and then maintain this… how supremely fucked is that?

but once the dust has settled, i know i will be happier, even if i never find the love i am after. even if i never find my actual person. even if i spend the rest of my years on this planet alone… i will still be happier because i will not be lying, i will not be constantly worried about managing someone else’s feelings, i will not be compromising myself, my likes, my wants, my needs to appease another. i will not be putting myself second.

it’s going to be interesting coming back to posts like this in the coming months, or even years. fuck i have really peeled back so many damn layers in the last several months. if you would have asked me last year at this time if i could ever imagine myself being in this situation, i would have laughed so hard. but deep down i would have been asking myself “holy shit… i can do that? that is an option for me???”.

wearing thin

a little while ago i made a post on reddit talking about something i was struggling with that got a few responses. one in particular came in the form of a dm from someone who just wanted to wish me well. within one or two responses it was made clear that this person was also dealing with a very similar situation and also needed someone to talk to.

they said that they felt all of their friends and family were starting to get sick of hearing about the same thing over and over. which, at the time, i thought was silly. that’s what friends and family are for, right?

fast forward a few weeks and now i am starting to understand a little bit more about a lot of this.

first, nothing about this is fast. nothing about this is easy. nothing about this is simple. this is not a typical problem. this is an all encompassing and life changing event, but only for those directly involved. those not directly involved cannot even fathom the intricacies.

second, friends and families do care, but because they are incapable of understanding, it can be frustrating to hear what is exactly the same complaints to their ears, over and over. but it’s not the same complaints over and over though. there are subtle differences that are wildly important and, at least to the people directly involved, require detailed scrutiny, grief and even mourning.

third, flip flopping, circling, whatever you want to call it, happens almost constantly. and it’s not a simple orbit either. imagine a dozen or so orbits, all different from each other, and all interacting with each other as well. effectively a three body problem, but with emotions. it’s legitimately insane. from one day to the next, hell from one hour to the next, your entire outlook on life itself changes. and not a little bit, i’m talking dramatically changes. one moment you can be hopeful for the future and making all kinds of plans for things you want to do, or experience or whatever, and then literal moments later, you’re researching the laws regarding how long you need to wait between when you get a firearm license and when you can purchase one. it’s fucked.

so, all of this combined and the end result is an impossible strain on the personal relationships you have with other people, right in the middle of when you are straining, or realistically severing the most important relationship in your life up until then. makes for a bit of a feedback loop, doesn’t it?

today i feel like i have strained a few personal relationships to an unacceptable point. there’s a few people who i feel are getting sick of hearing from me about the same shit over and over. to my face they say they want to know, they want to help, they want to listen… and i don’t doubt their sincerity. but i don’t think they can even really understand any of this and it’s all just wearing everything a little too thin now.

although a lesson i have learned recently is to not internalize everything, i may have perhaps taken that a bit too far and need to reel things back in a bit. i need to keep some things to myself, inside. at least for a while.

forget it.

i feel a little broken today. things are not going how i had hoped they would.

how could you say that to me? how did you think i would react? what did you expect would come of that? nothing good for sure. so why?

i’m fucking trying to keep things together, but it’s not easy. i am fucking trying to spare everyone’s feelings as much as possible at the expense of my own. i’m fucking trying to be clear, concise and consistent with everything i say and do to make things easier for you.

and yes, the irony of me saying this whilst also being in the very center of a most selfish act on my part is palpable. i get that.

i wish you could see. i wish you could understand. i wish you could appreciate, even if only slightly, the effort that i am putting towards this none the less.

have i mistaken you for someone you are not? have i totally misunderstood your previous words? have i completely miscalculated everything?

perhaps i do need to be more selfish? perhaps i do need to put me first? why should i put so much thought and consideration into how you feel when the reciprocity is not quite there?

or maybe today is just a bad fucking day and i am overthinking everything.