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anita
ParticipantThat’s wonderful to hear. Zenith! I will be away from the computer for most of this hot, hot day
anita
ParticipantI am sorry you are having a difficult time, q. I’ll be back to you at the end of the day.
anita
ParticipantHi Peter:
“Yes, I know that nothingness inside. That hollow, alone space.”- As I read this, I wanted to fix that nothingness inside you. It makes me smile to think that—even for a few seconds—I had the idea in my mind that I have that kind of power… ha-ha.
“There are times when the mystery feels too vast, and I long for something more tangible. The heart aches, even as it knows. The soul whispers ‘yes,’ but the body feels tired, small, and unseen.”- You write so poetically, it makes my brain say W.O.W! I don’t remember ever reading something from you as profound, so personal, so raw. Real.
I just had the image of boy-Peter looking up into the vast sky where God is supposed to reside, praying for help with the ache inside—a prayer that wasn’t answered. So Peter the boy felt tired, small, and unseen.
And I remembered myself as a girl… walking alone in the evening or night (it was dark), looking up at the sky full of stars and praying to the stars, begging them: “Help me! Please help me!” The stars twinkled, but no help came.
“As I mentioned earlier, the heart still aches even when the mind ‘knows.’”- Again (and I almost smile again), for a moment I thought maybe I could say something to you that would bridge the gap between spiritual knowing and emotional reality. Between the mind and the heart.
What I’ve been doing lately—through my stream-of-consciousness journaling (in my thread) and even here in this reply—is to build a bridge between my intellectual understanding (such as “I am not a bad person”) and my emotional reality… to truly feel and believe what I claim to know.
I say “claim to know” because this kind of information is useless unless it is in-the-body.
“And no, this doesn’t make me less needy of human connection. If anything, it might deepen the ache. To be candid, I sometimes wonder if writing about these things is a way to avoid that ache, but it doesn’t. It just brings me closer to it.”- I think I shared this with you before—that I thought that writing about mystery, belonging, nonduality might be a way to protect yourself from the ache of longing for human connection.
Your philosophical and poetic reflections could act as a shield—elegant and thoughtful—that sits between you and raw vulnerability.
But you say this shield, if it was one, didn’t numb the ache—it intensified it. And maybe that’s because connection matters.
“When I see bombs being dropped, I am That. When I see a child starving, I am That. When I see someone holding that child, I am That too…”- Powerful.
When I see my mother, in my mind’s eye… I see me? That feels uncomfortable. Wrong. And yet… it just occurred to me: her suspiciousness toward people lives in me still, and I’m working to resolve it. Just last Saturday, I hurt two honest, good people—with that suspiciousness.
So… when I see myself, I see my mother. But I don’t want to.
“I understand when someone might say what’s the point then if in the end that ache and that experience of nothingness inside remains. I don’t have an answer for that.”- The ache softens when someone sees us in it.
I’m having this image of a blank canvas full of dark colors—representing the ache—and I’m nowhere to be found on it. The ache feels heavy, unbearable… until someone, with a few brushstrokes, paints me onto that canvas. What a relief: there I am. I didn’t know I was there.
You submitted a second post while I was writing this—a meditation.
What I’m taking from it this morning: When the intellect quiets, it isn’t the mind shutting off—it’s the mind becoming still, like a pond with no ripples. All the analyzing, labeling, and conceptualizing drop away. No need to name the feeling. No urge to solve the mystery. Just stillness. Presence. Breath. And when the intellect rests, other ways of knowing wake up.
What might wake up for me right now? Just now, I noticed the sound of a plane moving past, the far-off hum of traffic, birds singing. I hadn’t heard any of it until the ripples of my mind quieted down.
With warmth, Anita 🤍
anita
ParticipantDefy the message that I was- am a B.A.D person. (Trigger Warning..)
I understand my mother’s pathology. Yet, my understanding cannot undo the impact she had on me.
With all my empathy, I cannot undo what it feels when a mother, your own mother… your very own mother, threatens to “break your bones”, to “MURDER you”, her words.. How can empathy for her make these words okay.
Night after night.. there she is, sleeping, breathing.. not far away.. a bit snoring..
Am I am safe?
Sounds like I am safe.
Tonight. Sleep.
When she wakes up.. Here she goes.. again: “I WILL BREAK YOUR BONES! I WILL MURDER YOU!”
How does a girl (or a boy) live with this?
Tics, Tourette’s, Anxiety, OCD, Depression… that’s how.
Oh.. and there was her severe anorexia and/ or bulimia when pregnant with me.. a bridge baby.. brain development dysfunctions, ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities.. memory dysfunctions, the inability to understand figurative language.. and do such more.
No mother is a perfect mother, but mine- mine.. was a curse in so many ways, so much.. so much in this one threat: “I Will MURDER YOU!” –
Why did she have to go that far? Why did she have to threaten murder.. why?
Why mother.. why threaten to MUURDER me.. why use that word.. why???
I mean, why use “murder”?
Nothing in you thought it was a bit rough.. to use that word.. Nothing Gentler Just for Me.. ??
MURDER is what you thought I deserved? I was only a 2-3-4-5-6-year old.. some softening of the “murder”, please?
I better brush my teeth and go to bed.. mind boggling, is what it is. (totally dark, no sounds of birds)
Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Zenith:
You wrote, “I had more unstable childhood but still never left anxious my future.”- you felt anxious about the Present time, back then.. was it easier than feeling anxious about the Future?
It makes sense you want to be there for your mom emotionally: you love her! Does she fully know that you love her so much? Does it make her feel better to know it?
I loved my mother very, very much, but she either didn’t know that I did, or it didn’t matter to her.
Sending care 🤍
anita
ParticipantHi Peter, Thanks so much for your message. I agree with you that both perspectives are important: the personal healing and the deeper spiritual connection. One helps us work through our pain, and the other reminds us we’re all part of something greater.
It’s comforting for me to think-feel-that something greater. It feels lovely to think of it, to connect to it.. and then I forget.
“Somewhere I Belong”– Linkin Park: “(When this began) I had nothing to say- And I’d get lost in the nothingness inside of me
(I was confused)… Just stuck, hollow and alone… I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along- Somewhere I belong…I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I’m close to something real- I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along- Somewhere I belong”-I believe you’ve know that nothingness-inside, that hollow and alone experience (I’ve known SO MUCH of it), haven’t you, Peter?
Do you feel that you now belong to this something-greater, that you are, really a part of it?
And does it make you less needy of human interactions?
It’s totally okay, of course, if you don’t answer these questions. You don’t owe me answers.
For me, the more I heal, the more I need human interactions. It’s a hunger. There’s no substitute.
🤍 Anita
anita
ParticipantHey Peter: I want to revise my rephrasing—“When I see my innocence in you, how can I harm you?”—because sometimes, people carrying unresolved trauma, especially from childhood, don’t see innocence as something beautiful. Instead, it feels unbearable. A child’s purity can mirror back what was lost, what was stolen, what still aches—and rather than protecting it, they may reject or harm the child because of what it represents: a softness they were denied, a reminder of how deeply they were hurt.
I think I took the original sentence—“When I see I am you, how can I harm you?”—literally, when it’s meant more philosophically. It points to the idea that we’re all connected—that separation is mostly an illusion, and at our core, we share the same essence. When we truly feel that, love and care flow naturally. Harm becomes impossible—not because of who we are individually, but because we stop seeing each other as separate.
🤍Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Zenith:
I really felt what you shared. Wanting to be a baby again, just cared for and free from emotional struggles. It makes sense that being in India, surrounded by memories and familiar places, would stir that kind of nostalgia.
It reminded me of your trip to India last year. This is what you posted back then:
July 17, 2024: “I am still in India and will be back on July 26th. Its going good so far.”
July 29: “I am back to US. I feel so homesick right now… It was good and relaxing. I miss my family (MOM & AUNT). My mom treated me like a kid again by cooking my favorite dishes for me, doing laundry and many other things. I miss her the most. I kinda feel lonely here.”
July 30: “So I am worried about if I should settle here or go back to India and take care of my parents. How will I survive this anxiety when i get old?”
August 1, 2024: “I am feeling bit better now” (no mention of nostalgia or being homesick)
See the similarities between what you shared back then and what you shared a year after? Seems like last year you felt homesick for only a few days..?
Going back home reminded you of who you were before life got complicated. It’s okay to wish for that simplicity again. And it’s okay to have all the comforts here in the U.S. and still feel something missing.
Sometimes when we miss the simplicity of childhood, it’s not just the comfort we miss—it’s how light things felt. No heavy thoughts. No pressure. Just being.
Maybe you can bring a little more simplicity into your life now. Not by changing everything around you, but maybe by softening the way you think or treat yourself. Like letting go of overthinking, being kinder to yourself. Maybe this nostalgia is your heart’s way of asking: What could feel simpler right now?
Sending gentle thoughts as you move through this tender feeling. 🤍
Anita
anita
ParticipantHey Confusedasf:
It’s completely okay to feel lost right now. You’re in emotional limbo—where you and he still miss each other, but there’s no clear path forward. It might feel like your heart is being pulled in two directions at once—toward him and away from him—and it’s hard to know what’s real or what to hope for.
For someone with a fearful avoidant attachment style, this kind of in-between space can be especially difficult. You may deeply want closeness, but also feel afraid of being hurt again. There’s a craving for connection—and at the same time, a strong need to protect yourself from the pain it might bring. So when things remain unclear—like him saying he misses you, but not offering change or commitment—it’s hard for your nervous system to feel safe.
That doesn’t mean you’re wrong for feeling confused. It just means your system is reaching for something solid—either closeness with consistency, or distance with peace. But emotional limbo offers neither. When you’re given intimacy (he misses you) without direction (a plan or effort to rebuild together), it creates a push-pull inside. You miss him, but don’t feel safe hoping. You hear warmth in his words, but it doesn’t feel stable enough to lean on.
And from everything you’ve shared, it sounds like his life is already overflowing: new job, travel, stress about work and family, and the pain that leads him back to drinking. On top of that, it seems like he holds a lot in emotionally—always thinking, but struggling to communicate what’s really going on inside.
When someone is that overwhelmed, it’s hard for them to show up consistently in a relationship—especially one that asks for emotional honesty and care. It’s like there’s no room left for something that requires real work and steady presence. And maybe, just for now, that alone makes trying to get back together feel more like a setup for heartache than healing.
If any of that speaks to you, maybe let it breathe a bit. No need to decide anything—just something to notice gently.
Talking about breathing, here are a few gentle things that might help bring you calm:
* Slow, deep breathing — Even five minutes of steady breathing can help soothe the nervous system. Try inhaling for four counts, exhaling for six.
* Stream-of-consciousness journaling — Write without judgment, just let your thoughts and feelings spill out. Sometimes clarity comes after the words.
* Body check-ins — Notice where you feel tight or heavy. Place a hand there, breathe into it. Remind yourself: I’m safe right now.
* Touch something grounding — A favorite object, soft blanket, or the earth beneath you. Let it remind you: you are supported.
* Reach out gently — Talking to someone who listens without fixing—just witnessing—can be incredibly regulating. Even this space can be that.
You don’t have to figure everything out right now. Maybe just stay close to what feels real, comforting, and honest in this moment. Let clarity come slowly. It will. 🤍
Anita
anita
ParticipantJournaling, stream of consciousness: me.. Anita. I am a good person after all, who could have guessed.. I was SURE that I was B.A.D because this is what my mother told ne over and over and over and over and over and over.. over.. over, over again.
No mercy for the need of the little girl Anita to be recognized as G.O.O.D.
BAD-BAD- BAD- Anita- was her message- again and again.. and again, a relentless, no-pity message.
I understand her pathology.. but it doesn’t change her message, a message that robbed me of so much of a life-unlived. So much miser-ing instead of living.
If only..
I have passed on some of that badness she has passed on to me, did it only two days ago, this last Saturday.. it just erupted out of me, unfair, wrong.. hurt people not deserving of it.
It was not my intention.. it was that anger.. anger that has its own logic.
I regretted, apologized.. suffered Sat, Sun.. feeling somewhat better since last night. Because of .. his grace. A beautiful soul!
What I did Sat morning was to hurt a person as innocent as I was when I was hurt by my mother.
I did it. Wow.
This means I carry in me the same badness that was passed on to me.
And now.. now what?
BELIEVE in my own goodness, invest in it. DEFY the message.
Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Peter:
This one sentence stood out for me ever since I read your 2nd post this morning: “When I see I am you, how can I harm you?”-
My thoughts this late evening: one has to see one’s own INNOCENCE in another to ask this question.
But when a person feels like a bad person deep inside.. then what is projected to another is that perceived badness. And then.. it’s easy to harm the other.
It’s that perceived self-badness passed on from one generation to the next (figuratively, starting with Adam and Eve), that gets projected to others, leading to harming others. And it being easily done.
And so, I will adjust this sentence: When I see my innocence in you, how can I harm you?
Back to the garden of Eden.. it wasn’t badness.. Eve and Adam were not bad for eating the apple, or fruit.. for crying out loud!
Yet, they were made to believe they were bad, punished, expelled from the garden of Eden.. for eating a g** **** apple!
My point: many of us get to believe we are bad people for such innocent acts- or thoughts- of well.. nothing deserving of punishment.
Innocence distorted into Badness.
Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Zenith: I hear you. It really makes sense that you’d want to go back to India—your family is there, and it’s hard feeling so far away, especially when you want to help care for your parents. That kind of love and responsibility runs deep.
Even if life in the U.S. feels more comfortable, it sounds like what you truly miss is connection. And without close friends nearby, it’s easy to feel like something important is missing.
Are you thinking about this more seriously now, or just feeling it strongly in your heart?
Either way, I’m here to listen as you figure things out 🤍
Anita
July 14, 2025 at 6:30 pm in reply to: Gf’s Dad passing was the final straw into ending our long distance relationship #447609anita
ParticipantHi Alecsee:
Thanks for sharing all that. I can feel how deeply this situation is affecting you—and how much your heart is in it. It sounds like the relationship stirred up some really big emotions, ones that may reach all the way back to earlier times, when Alecsee-the-boy was left alone just when he needed someone, misunderstood, or criticized. That kind of pain runs deep.
What might help most right now is taking a little time to settle your emotions—before trying to fix things or explain more. When we’re calmer, we can think more clearly and choose words that build connection rather than confusion.
You’ve said you regret how things unfolded, and I believe that. That’s already a first step. Now maybe ask yourself: what patterns are repeating here? What kind of support do I need to move through this, even if the relationship doesn’t go the way I hope?
I think there’s a lot of strength in you. Even just being able to name all this shows insight. And I’m here if you want to keep talking it through—one small, steady step at a time 🤍
With care, Anita
anita
ParticipantLucidity, thank you for sharing all of that—it was raw, thoughtful, and so full of feeling.
That moment with your friend and the hot dish said so much. You weren’t just noticing what happened—you were realizing how different it felt to be someone whose reactions are allowed, even welcomed. And how growing up in an unsafe space made you hold everything in, just to protect yourself. That’s not boring—it’s a powerful insight into what it means to feel noticed and safe.
I really admire the way you’ve been trying to build your life around what you know makes it worth living. You’re right—being cared for, being seen, having your feelings matter—that’s something many of us keep looking for, even as we grow and heal. And when we do find it, like you said, those relationships can bring things into our lives that healing alone can’t always reach.
What you shared about your sister and your family was heartbreaking and brave. It sounds like you’ve tried for a long time, and you’ve finally stepped back—not out of anger, but to protect your sense of self. That’s hard to do. It also sounds like you’re seeing things more clearly now, and that clarity is giving you peace you didn’t expect. You’re allowed to make that decision. It doesn’t mean you don’t care—it means you’ve learned to care for yourself, too.
Thank you again for sharing your story. If you want to talk more or share your video, I’d love to hear from you 🤍
With care, Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Zenith: I will reply in the evening. Please feel free to add anything you wish to add before I return to the computer.
Anita
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