Friday, June 27, 2014

Big D, pt. II

basically I have a lot of really positive stuff to blog about in regards to being connected with my church again, but I'm alone for the first time all vacation at a coffee shop (where I should be working, shhhhh) and I just need to vent about some stuff.

I think that the Welbutrin has finally kicked all the way in, and I've had a pretty rough couple of days. (It doesn't help that I'm also about to start my period and am wayyy more emotional than usual.) Ross has had some low days too in the past week, and I've just been thinking a lot about how depression was handled in my last relationship.

I got a message on Wednesday at church that was basically like, "this new guy in your life is really good for you & we support you dating him and see him being a wonderful influence in your life, but you have work to do in your sacral chakra about letting go of your relationship with dylan & until you do that, you're not going to be able to be fully present in your relationship with ross"

ugh.

it's probably true (i mean how can you argue with your dead grandpa), but ugh. the sacral chakra is about sexuality, creativity, intimacy, and empathy, but it also is greatly concerned with fear and guilt. (hah, bingo, ms. guilt internalizer right here!) the problem is that i don't know how to fix these issues, and it's bringing me down. i think maybe a lot of it has to do with letting ross know how things with dylan were so horrible at the end, but i think it's also going to take me to stop comparing my life to dylan's. it doesn't fucking matter what is going on in his life, and i need to keep reminding myself of that no matter how many times he tries to invite me to shows and shit.

i guess this kind of got off track? because i wanted to post about how i'm already proud of ross and me for being able to say "i'm having a low day and i just really need to not skype with you tonight" or " hey, things suck for me today, send me something funny." it just feels like so much more of a team effort in building each other up, already this early in the relationship, when from day one with dylan (even if i didn't see it until later) there was always some manipulation and put-downs (on both of our parts) when it came to issues like this. i think a lot of it comes with being older and having experienced depression firsthand for me, but so much of it is about how open ross is wiling to be with me and how open that makes me want to be with him. i feel like i'm probably still the most emotionally stable in the relationship (which is scary because i don't feel very emotionally stable a lot of the time) but it's better.


Monday, June 23, 2014

the deed

when I realized that things with Ross were going to be serious, I decided that I didn't want to have sex with him before i was going to leave chicago for 3 weeks. After a week of seeing him almost every day, the first week we met, I knew it would be rough to transition so quickly into being back in my parents' house, feeling insecure and child-like again. (My mom has had it rough post-clot #2 and everyone is trying to be nice, but she's on a short fuse and needs a lot of help, which leaves me, the adult child in the house, in a place of being told what to do and fussed over a lot, which is exhausting.) but what's that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?

Basically we had a perfect opportunity, and we decided to take it. It was rainy out (both our favorite weather) and we had my newly air-conditioned apartment to ourselves. I realized that I didn't want the first time we slept together to be with Daniella 25 feet away. And I'm not sorry that we had sex. It gives me something to anchor myself to when I get into these depressive rifts about my body image & feeling like maybe he doesn't like me as much as I want him to. But of course it sucks to be far away from the person I want to have sex with. Blake sent me a buzzfeed article today about choosing between food and sex, and it made me realize that it's going to be another two full weeks before I can cuddle up with that sweet boy again.

I'm not really sure why I wrote this. I guess it just feels nice for someone to be genuinely interested in me who I also want to be with. And things aren't quite right with me emotionally yet, and I feel like a lot of the time when he tells me that he thinks I'm cute or sexy, it's really hard for me to believe him because I am in such a rough spot with liking my own body right now. And for the first night of having a very bad body image night since then, I am glad to be able to focus on that memory & feel not so shitty.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

lucky #3

so tonight was date #3 with the lovely ross, and it's for real, i really like this guy.

we met at reno, a pizza place near his house, and even though i got there 15 minutes early, he was already waiting there with a table for us. we got a chorizo pizza (omg, so good, i'm going to start eating pork if only for chorizo. seriously amazing.) and a desert cake thing to go, and he paid for it all, but promised he'd let me pay next time.

when we left the restaurant, there was a step down that i didn't notice, and he warned me to watch my step. while we walked, he talked about how he used to be a christian but considers himself more of an agnostic/buddhist now, but that he finds it really admirable when he has friends who are christians who are spiritual & let it uplift them more than dogmatic & centered on putting people down/placing restrictions on them. i talked about my spirituality and how i agree completely; that blake and i have different religious beliefs but are still thick as thieves because she is that wonderful type of person. he would tell me how long we were going to be on each street, because he hates when people are leading him somewhere new & he feels like he's walking forever. he lit a cigarette for the second time around me, asking if it was ok first, and literally stepped off the curb and started walking in the street any time we passed kids so he wouldn't make them breathe in his smoke.

i talked with his roommate, brad, who went to saic with me, and then when brad left we just sat on the couch and watched an episode of friends. we made out for a little bit, then went to his room & made out some more. it was really hot (there's a/c in like maybe 5% of chicago buildings, it's awful in the summer) so we both ended up in our undies. he was very explicit about the fact that we didn't have to do anything i didn't want to do, and i told him i didn't want to sleep with him yet, and he felt the same way. any time we went past just kissing, he stopped to make sure it was ok first, and was all about making sure i was comfortable and into it. we just talked & kissed & made jokes, and then after a while he went and got the cake & 1 fork from the kitchen, and he made me play this game where we traded off playing guilty pleasure songs on his computer. it was so awful/wonderful. ludo, coheed and cambria, riff raff, j-lo, big sean, mayday parade, and lots of my chemical romance. we had to listen to the whole song, no matter what, so we normally ended up laughing at the music videos or feeding each other cake. 

it started getting late, so i pulled on my dress & went to fix my hair in the bathroom, and when i came back in the room he was lying half on the bed, playing 'moon song' on his ukelele. ~swoon~

he's coming over tomorrow straight from work, and we're going to go walk around my neighborhood and take gitsy to bad dog tavern. this feels unreal, and wonderful, and positive in a way that no other date situation has. so here's hoping it stays

Monday, June 16, 2014

healthy

i feel like i've been really bad at updating this lately, but right now things are rounding out & feeling much more stable than they have in a while. i started taking welbutrin, and while i still don't feel like everything is under control, i feel a lot better. and i can't drink on it, which is good; i think i got to a point last semester where i was so depressed and anxious all the time that drinking almost every weekend just made me feel overwhelmed and unbalanced. i've been eating a lot healthier, being a little more active, and my thyroid is slowly working its way back to normal, all which are helping. i got a haircut & the 8 or so pounds i've lost have boosted my body image significantly.

i've also been seeing this guy, ross, and it just feels pretty right. i talked with him for weeks before meeting him in person, and i really think that made a big difference. while i'm pretty sure he's rebounding pretty hard from a serious relationship (less than a year, but she dumped him for some other dude), i really like him. like, actually. i don't think i've ever felt this way about anyone i've met off okcupid, except maybe zach, but we didn't have much chemistry. ross is really geeky & kinda awkward, but in an endearing way. plus he is very tall and dresses really well. he's always making jokes that i find hilarious, and i've been able to be really open with him about a lot of things, including the fact that i'm struggling a little bit emotionally right now & a lot about spiritualism, both which normally scare guys off.

i found a dime in the bathroom on our first date (i'm sure i've posted about it on here, but my mom's dad, who died when he was 24, leaves my mom and me dimes--always heads up in plain sight--when we're struggling or are wondering if we're making a right decision, as a kind of confirmation that we're doing the right thing & that we have spiritual support) and last night he came over to make pizzas and watch game of thrones, and when he left we made out in the foyer of my apartment building. so for now it feels pretty nice, and i like talking to him, so we'll see where it goes. i think it's really easy for me to get worked up about emotional health in relationships--my own & that of the people i'm interested in--because of how dylan's & my relationship crashed and burned because of it, but i think it's also ok (as long as i am being open about the state that i'm in) to look to someone else for emotional support and to help me remind myself that i am an interesting and valuable person.

i only have a few more days left in chicago before i go to plan-it-x fest with dana and then head to north carolina with my family, and i am so stoked for it that it's unbelievable. i cannot wait to see my aunt and cousins, to hike in the woods, to see the sunrise on ocracoke, and to hang out with my best friend in my favorite place in the US.