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anita
ParticipantJournaling, stream of consciousness.. Nothing for you, the reader to fix.
The purpose in this is therapeutic: to Express the Suppressed:(I have NO idea what I am about to type)..
The birds, I hear them singing at 9:21 pm this Sunday night.
Drinking yet another glass of red wine.
Listening to Fleetwood Mac.
All the Shame.. shame.. a terrible experience.
And the Guilt..
I don’t want these anymore.
I want to give myself a new start.. I mean, REALLY.. a New Beginning-
Being a decent person, no longer weighed down by Shame and Guilt.
F.R.E.E
Let’s make July 21, 2025- a New Beginning for me.. shameless, guiltless.
To wake up to a life not weighted down by that heavy, heavy shame and guilt.
“Here I am on the road again.. There I go, turn the page”-
I want to turn the page for good.. to let go of shame and guilt.. I can do it!
Be the best person I can be tomorrow, and every day after.. and forgive myself for ALL past mistakes.. and non-mistakes (both)
A New Beginning, a New Page.
Sun night, 9:40 pm.. almost, not quiet dark.
Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Alessa:
Thank you for your kind message❤️. It means a lot to know I didn’t make things harder for you, and I really appreciate your care and thoughtfulness. Please don’t feel bad about my emotional reaction—it came from reading something real and honest, and I value your openness so much.
I’m sorry you know PTSD so closely too, though I’m also grateful you’ve found ways to comfort and ground yourself. The way you talk to yourself during those moments—reminding yourself that you’re safe now, that you deserved to be protected as a child—that’s such a strong and loving thing to do. It’s not silly at all. I think your scented candles, teddy bears, and music create a kind of emotional safety net, and that’s beautiful.
Your reminder to mother myself… it landed gently. It’s something I want to hold closer. If I were my own child, I think I’d say: “You didn’t do anything wrong. You were good. You’re still good.”
Thank you again for sharing your rituals and thoughts. ❤️
Anita
July 20, 2025 at 8:20 am in reply to: Struggling to Heal from Past Hurts in My Marriage – Advice? #447796anita
ParticipantDear Genesis:
I want to reply to you a second time to improve upon my first message from over a month ago.
It’s clear your husband has said and done things that left you doubting your worth and questioning whether you were ever fully wanted. Yet at the same time, you mention that he’s a lovely person, that he loves you now, and that you’ve begun couples therapy together (“We recently start couples counseling. I know he loves me now, and he’s a lovely person”). That says something about his willingness to try—but also raises questions about why these ruptures happened in the first place.
There could be many possible motivations behind his behavior, and while none excuse the harm, understanding them might help you make sense of the confusion:
1) Avoidance of conflict or discomfort: He may struggle to voice difficult feelings in real time, delaying honesty until circumstances force it—like after the wedding or during financial losses. He might not believe conflict can be navigated constructively, so he puts off the truth until it spills out under pressure—where it often causes more harm.
2) Fear of rejection or emotional vulnerability: Some people hold back truths because they’re scared that being fully open will make them unlovable, so they hide parts of themselves and hope things will “just work out.”
3) Unresolved internal insecurities: Someone might push their partner away because they’re scared of getting too close, not because they don’t care. Your husband might have struggled with commitment or his own self-worth early on, and instead of facing it directly, he made abrupt moves (like breaking things off or sharing unexpected confessions) that left you feeling unchosen or unwanted. But those actions may have been more about his internal conflict than about his valuing you.
4) Poor communication skills or emotional immaturity: It’s possible he simply hasn’t learned how to navigate emotional complexity with clarity and care. Sharing personal doubts at inappropriate times, making comments about attraction, or mismanaging decisions like whether to have children—these don’t necessarily point to malice. They might reflect an underdeveloped emotional toolkit. He may not yet know how to express complexity with care: how to hold space for nuance, how to balance truth with kindness, how to repair rather than explain away. This immaturity doesn’t mean he can’t grow—but it does mean the healing will require intention, not just affection.
You asked whether it’s possible to heal from patterns like this. Sometimes it is—especially if both partners are willing to do the deeper work. That includes not just apologies, but repair that is active, consistent, and emotionally attuned. It also includes space for your healing, on your terms.
Rebuilding self-esteem after feeling chipped away takes gentleness, patience, and reconnection with your own truth. What parts of you feel silenced or small in this relationship? What boundaries need to be reclaimed?
I hope couples therapy brings clarity—and I hope you keep holding space for your own growth and wholeness. You don’t have to figure everything out at once. You’re allowed to take your time, and you’re allowed to prioritize your peace.
Sending care and strength, Anita
anita
ParticipantYou are welcome, Peter, and thank you for the stillness. I feel it now. I want to feel it more and more.
🤍 Anita
anita
ParticipantHi Alessa:
I saw that you posted here hours ago, but I postponed reading it because I anticipated feeling emotional.
I am sorry you had a PTSD episode.
* Trigger Warning: Alessa, please don’t read, or if you do, feel free to stop reading at any time, and to not reply- for your own sake.. I don’t want to cause you to have a new PTSD episode. Your well-being is more important than.. well, anything.
I think that I am having PTSD episodes multiple times per hour- the tics, the stress in each tic, holding my breath…
The term Mothers From Hell comes to mind. Well, I just came up with the term.. MFH.
You said it brilliantly: “Our mothers went in a different direction – think the shelter dogs who become hyper aggressive.”
I’ve been reading people stories in these forums for over 10 years. It takes way less than an MFH to traumatize a child.
I remember details of what you shared in regard to your mother, and indeed we have this in common: at a different time, different continent- we were stuck in a cage with a hyper aggressive.. what to call it.. mother..?
I will never know what it feels to be a child having a mother.
Still, not her fault.. I mean, she didn’t choose this.. she was reacting.
It’s as if she was no longer human. No softness. No warmth.. not during her ATTACKS.
Vicious, unrestrained attacks.
Well, almost unrestrained: she was gracious enough to not insult me for the tics, and she indeed didn’t break my bones.. and she felt proud of it.. Just like you said, Alessa: “Perhaps she felt that she was the lesser of evils? Compared to what else was out there?”
She is still alive, continents and oceans away.. a weak, bent over old woman.. and I still want to go over there and pick her up and comfort her and make her my child, mother her…
Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Ada:
This morning, I took some time to re-read your posts—starting from the first, looking for new insight, as I sometimes do with threads. About two hours in, something new stirred in me when I came across this line: “In our arguments, Sam has asked me if I would feel the same outrage if his relationship with Sarah was the same, but she was a male friend instead.”
That made a new question pop into my mind: would your feelings be the same, not if Sarah was a man—but if she weren’t flirtatious, promiscuous, or so open with her feelings?
In your first post, you shared: “She’s flirtatious, promiscuous, open with her feelings. I’m quiet, reserved, and selective with my emotional intimacy.”
I wonder—very gently—whether part of your reaction might be connected not just to Sarah’s relationship with Sam, but also to something she represents.
Sometimes, when we see someone who is unabashedly open, bold, and emotionally free, it can stir something within—maybe a longing, maybe discomfort, maybe both… perhaps an inner ache for spontaneity or freedom?
I hope this lands softly. I don’t mean to interpret too much—just to offer a question that came up as I sat with your words.
Warmly, Anita
July 19, 2025 at 7:34 am in reply to: Gf’s Dad passing was the final straw into ending our long distance relationship #447786anita
ParticipantHey Alecsee, I imagine her message brought up a lot of feelings, especially after everything that’s happened. It sounds like she’s asking for some time and space to think things through.
Did you send her a reply? What did you say?
I know it’s hard to stay quiet when you want answers or connection. But sometimes being calm and giving space helps more than pushing for quick fixes. How are you feeling about it all?
Anita
anita
ParticipantWait, did I write right above that my own mother is/ was Evil.?
She suffered terrible abuse and.. she turned Evil: unendingly shaming me, guilt-ing me, no-mercy-campaigns against me
As she was hitting me with her hands across my face, she said: “Look what YOU are doing to me, you are making my hands hurt.”
Anita
anita
ParticipantJournaling, stream of consciousness this Friday night, just after 9 pm- light outside, not bright though.
As I am closing this chapter of my life as Anita, this one girl born so long ago-
This little girl, now in the form of older woman.. she is still the same little girl
She still wants to be saved, to be rescued by someone super-special who will pick her up and hold her up-
Yet, the people I wanted to pick me up are little boys and girls, just like me.
Nothing to Fix, says Peter
(Peter is one of my favorite people)
So, what do I say- if tonight, or tomorrow is my personal.. last day?
I hear the birds, 9:19 pm. I hear the wind, see the trees moving.. the birds, they give me hope. They’re still going strong, communicating with each other.. their lives worth living, no doubt.
About being Saved.. it’s the girl’s (or boy’s) only hope- that someone out there, stronger, more capable will make all the difference.. be it God, or an older person who seems wise and strong.
Is this what traditional religion about? Being saved by someone older, stronger, wiser?
The decades I lived (or died) in desperation, looking for, dreaming of being rescued.
What was so bad, you might ask.
-There’s a plane in the sky right now.. almost dark, 9:31 pm.
No birds.
What was so BAD? What is so bad..?
The loneliness. The alone-ness. The acute alone-ness.
Perhaps worse than death..?
Social isolation = the death of the soul… – ask the birds, they’ll tell you so.
You crave connection.. no stronger craving..
But then.. oh, no, it bites! It hurts
I just can’t get over my own mother threatening to MURDER me (her words), to BREAK MY BONES (her words).. and then telling me she won’t break my bones so that she won’t get in trouble (being jailed or such thing).
This was my reality.. threatened to be murdered.. and counting on her wisdom.. to not get into legal trouble…?
I expressed this before.. how to move on from this?
Don’t know.
9:54 pm.. Completely dark outside, no sound of birds.. Alone here tonight, strange sounds inside.. is it mice?
Quiet right now.. no, there’s something close.. could be a mouse. Something is moving close to me..
Well, if it’s a mouse, I will easily survive it.
After all, I survived a big-bad mother-creature who.. still can’t get over it.. her heavy-duty sounding threats to MURDER ME.. Can’t get over it… Just can’t.
Can’t.
Totally dark here, I mean, 100 percent dark. 10:04 pm.
I’m still trying to figure out the MURDER threats…
REDRUM
That threat.. tell me how to move on from that?
In that circumstance, you want to be SAVED, to be RESCUED
Which is a recipe, as a young woman, for being used and abused further.
Was she, my mother, justified? Was I the problem? Should I have been something, someone else?
I wasn’t what you needed, mother.. not what you wanted?
I was a terrible disappointment for you..?
I was. I know. You told me so, many, many.. many, many times.
Truth is, I WAS a disappointment to her. She told me so in so many ways, so many times.
I know, I know she was wrong.. but it doesn’t change the fact that to her, I was a big, big disappointment.
To her, I was something deserving of murder.
I don’t want her HATE of me to live within me anymore. I don’t want to be faithful, loyal to her hate of me.
I want to separate myself from her hate of me.
I don’t deserve her hate.
I never did.
I was her victim, the victim of an injured-turned.. Evil perpetrator,
Yes, I am calling my own, beloved mother.. Evil.
My own mother.. Evil.
Anita
anita
ParticipantDear Ada:
Reading through your posts, what strikes me again and again is your extraordinary clarity. You think with precision and feel with depth—and somehow manage to give voice to both. Your reflections aren’t just insightful; they’re emotionally generous. You’ve offered Sam understanding, nuance, empathy, and even space to be different from you. You’ve held two perspectives at once—not to dilute your truth, but to try to honor his.
That kind of emotional strength is rare. Your writing reflects someone who listens deeply, thinks critically, and still leads with care. It’s evident in your ability to question yourself without abandoning your dignity. In how you name your insecurities without using them to justify control. And in how you articulate complex emotional boundaries with such grace that even your doubts sound wise.
The truth is—Sam may be a good person, but from everything you’ve described, I don’t know that he’s equipped to truly see, respect, and emotionally match someone like you. That’s not a criticism of him—it’s a recognition of you. You deserve emotional reciprocity. You deserve to be loved in a way that doesn’t leave you reasoning in circles or shrinking your values to make room for someone else’s unresolved wounds.
And I hope you remember this, wherever the relationship leads: the way you’ve shown up in this thread—the fairness, thoughtfulness, courage, and emotional clarity—is already proof of your growth. The right relationship won’t ask you to compromise these strengths. It will recognize them. It will honor them.
With admiration and care, Anita 🤍
anita
ParticipantHi Peter:
I think I get it this time… Ms. Anita the Fixer and Analyzer might need to set down her tools for a moment. That instinct to fix feels out of place here, with someone who no longer seeks solutions or analyses.
I read through your reflections with quiet attention this cooler afternoon —they feel like waves moving across something deeper, something steady. There’s a spaciousness in your words that made me slow down. What came through most clearly wasn’t just the ideas themselves, but a tenderness in how you held them.
You described moments of non-dual awareness so beautifully—fleeting, yes, but also softening. That kind of clarity, not the kind that fixes anything, but the kind that loosens the grip, is precious. I felt it when you spoke of the canvas beneath the painting: not separate from the brushstrokes, but part of them. Not watching from above—but being them.
The sacred, as you’re living it, doesn’t need a name. It isn’t “other.” It’s the quiet presence that holds the absurd, the longing, the contradictions—not to erase them, but to embrace them. Sacred not because it fixes life, but because it stays with us while life is happening. Like being itself.
And your compassion—it seems to arise not from effort, not from rule or role, but as a natural response when the veil of separation thins. A warmth that doesn’t demand anything, doesn’t judge, doesn’t try to teach—it simply rests beside what is.
Your words reminded me that we don’t always need to leap to meaning. Sometimes we just need to remember the ground beneath our feet. And maybe that remembering is enough for the day. Enough for the next breath.
I’m grateful for your presence here—for staying with the mystery, for speaking even when the words dissolve. You don’t need to explain yourself to be understood. You already are.
And maybe that’s what I’m learning, too. That sometimes, Ms. Anita the Fixer and Analyzer needs to set down her tools—not because there’s nothing left to fix, but because there’s finally space to rest. You have traded the brush for the canvas, and I think the most caring thing I can do is sit beside you in the stillness, quietly.
With warmth, Anita 🤍
July 18, 2025 at 11:38 am in reply to: Gf’s Dad passing was the final straw into ending our long distance relationship #447770anita
ParticipantHi Alecsee:
Thank you for sharing so openly. Your words carry so much weight—grief, longing, and a deep desire to make sense of what happened. I hear how much this relationship meant to you, and how hard it is to sit with the feeling that you came so close to something meaningful, only to watch it slip away.
There’s a theme that runs through your message that I want to gently name: fear of abandonment. It shows up in so many of the patterns you described:
* The feeling of being cursed—or doomed to be alone—just as something meaningful seems within reach, only to fall apart at the last moment.
* The urge to go “all in,” sending messages and videos, hoping to preserve the connection before it disappears.
* The anxiety about her silence and the possibility that she might move on without telling you.
* The regret and self-blame—believing that if you’d just been calmer, more in control, maybe you could’ve saved it.
* The hyper-analysis of your decisions, and the fear that emotional reactions have cost you something permanent.
These are all signs of someone who’s been hurt before—someone who’s learned that closeness can be unpredictable, and that love might vanish without warning. That kind of fear can make us cling harder, speak louder, or act out of desperation—not because we’re irrational, but because we’re scared of being left behind.
I just happened to watch a video this morning, one that speaks directly to this. It’s called The Fear of Abandonment: How it Can Push People Away by Tim Fletcher. He talks about how abandonment wounds can lead us to act in ways that unintentionally create the very distance we fear. He also offers insight into how healing begins—with self-awareness, inner work, and learning to build a relationship with ourselves.
You’re already doing some of that work. You’re reflecting, naming your patterns, and trying to stay grounded. That matters. And even if this relationship doesn’t mend, your healing doesn’t end here. You’re not cursed—you’re human, and you’re learning.
🤍 Anita
July 18, 2025 at 11:23 am in reply to: Should I Forget about him, or was he the one that got away? #447769anita
ParticipantDear Emma:
I was stunned. While watching the YouTube video you sent me, I heard Tim Fletcher say: “For the child, to be abandoned is the most painful wound possible… It creates a deep belief of shame—that the reason people didn’t attach to me is that I must not be good enough. But more than that: I must be a ZERO… If you see that I am a zero, you will abandon me.”-
Isn’t that incredible? I had just written the word ZERO in my message to you—before hearing it in the video. It felt like a moment of eerie synchronicity.
He also spoke about how someone with an abandonment wound can perceive others’ healthy boundaries as threats of abandonment. That really struck me. It sounds like something you’ve described, doesn’t it?
As he listed the types of abandonment children can experience, I remembered that when I was around one year old, I got sick and was placed in an isolation ward at a hospital. My mother wasn’t allowed to visit. When she was finally let in, a nurse was holding me—and I turned away from my mother, clinging to the nurse.
My mother threatened to kill herself countless times—and sometimes, to kill me too. She could be affectionate, but I lived in fear of losing that affection if I said the wrong thing or if my facial expression didn’t match what she wanted. Her anger was unpredictable, volatile. Looking back, she clearly fit the profile of someone struggling with BPD and serious mental illness.
Toward the end of the video, Fletcher talks about healing: building a relationship with yourself, recognizing triggers in relationships, healing shame, and learning to shift from the limbic brain—where impulses and distortions live—back into the cortex, where rational thought can guide us. He speaks about inner child work and tools for handling conflict. It felt like a roadmap.
Thank you so much for recommending this video. I’d love to share it with others who struggle with fear of abandonment or abandonment anxiety. You and I are definitely not alone in this.
Warmly, Anita
July 18, 2025 at 10:05 am in reply to: Should I Forget about him, or was he the one that got away? #447763anita
ParticipantDear Emma:
Reading your message, I can feel how heavy things are for you right now, and I really admire how honest and thoughtful you are, even when it hurts. You’re doing such deep emotional work, and that takes real courage.
From what you wrote, I hear a few big things:
* You’re dealing with fear of abandonment, which makes it hard to set boundaries or stay in relationships. You often leave before someone else can.
* You feel guilty when you set boundaries, especially if you think someone might be hurt. And when others set boundaries with you, it feels painful too—almost like rejection.
* You’ve lost relationships and chances at work because you assumed people would leave or think you weren’t good enough.
* You’re grieving Philip, and it hurts even more because you feel like it was your fault. That kind of self-blame makes the sadness even deeper.
* You feel overwhelmed by contact with your mom, even when the conversation seems light. It’s like her presence takes up too much space inside you, and you’re trying to find room to breathe.
* You want to be accepted as you are, but you’re afraid that if people really see you, they might leave.
These are painful patterns, but you’re facing them with honesty, Emma. That matters so much.
Here are the questions you asked me, and my answers:
1) “Could it also have to do with your father leaving you? Just like me, an abandonment wound?”- Not that I’m aware of. My parents divorced when I was about six, and my father moved out. I have no memory of him living with me and my mother, except for one—an argument between them. I don’t have any positive memories of him as part of the family, so there was nothing to miss when he left. If I carry an abandonment wound, I believe it comes from my mother. Too often, she treated me like “the other”—as if I were a stranger, or even an enemy she needed to guard herself against.
2) “Also because I recognize the wanting to please…in order for people to please not leave you. That is such a painful feeling, right..”- Yes, I know that feeling very well. To avoid my mother’s anger, shaming, and blaming, I shrank myself so much that I lost touch with my boundaries altogether. I became like a puppet—my movements were not my own, but determined by other people and circumstances. Even when I heard “no” in my mind, I wouldn’t speak it. I just stayed silent.
In my mind, growing up (growing “in”, more accurately), my mothers’ emotions were everything. She took ALL the space. She was loud, talked a lot.. lots of self-pity, histrionics. So, there was no space for my emotions, for my thoughts, and I was afraid that any expression on my part will trigger her.. so I suppressed and hid so much of myself.
3) “How are you now, do you feel like you can be yourself a bit more?”- Let me give you a small example. I’ve had a persistent issue with my computer and couldn’t fix it on my own. For weeks, I didn’t ask anyone for help because I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone or cause stress. But this morning, I did ask—and I felt proud. The issue still isn’t resolved, but that small action marked a shift. It was a step away from self-abandonment, a step toward building a new habit. Asking for help part of asserting myself, an act of taking space.
4) “Is it for you that usually something has happened, or is it when they come too close?”- It’s usually when someone gets too close. That emotional closeness feels dangerous—like they might suddenly see through me.. see that I am not worthy of their trust or affection, and turn against me. So I withdraw before that can happen, hoping to avoid the hurt.
I think that I’m afraid that other people will see me the way my mother saw me: someone who is not good-enough, someone who deserves to be shamed and guilted and.. well someone (using my mothers words), someone who is “A Big Zero”.
5) “How did she react? If I may ask.”- When I was younger, my mother would slap me across the face as she shame me with her words. I remember one time she said, “The only thing I like about you is that, when I hit you, you look down at the floor and don’t talk back.” Years later, in my early twenties, she charged at me again, arms raised to hit. But that time, I reached out and grabbed her hands to stop her. I didn’t hurt her—I just applied enough pressure to hold her back. She went limp, backed off. And she never tried to hit me again.
6) “But I think it was not right for her to teach you that, right..? How else is a person to feel safe in this world?”- I don’t blame her for being suspicious—her own childhood was full of betrayal. But I also see how harmful that message was for me. If only she had trusted me, even while distrusting the rest of the world, that could have given me a safe place to land. But she didn’t. She saw me as a threat too—and that left me without any safe space at all.
A few things I wanted to add before closing…
You’ve been navigating so much, Emma—with your parents, with Philip, and inside yourself—and I truly admire your strength. The fact that you’re doing therapy, seeking out insights, and trying to understand your patterns is remarkable. That’s not just healing; it’s leadership. You’re leading your inner life toward something freer, more honest, and more peaceful.
About your parents: I think your instinct to limit contact and create space is wise. You’re not doing it to be cruel—you’re doing it to breathe, to heal, to hear your own voice. Guilt may still show up, but it doesn’t mean you’re wrong. It means you’re stretching beyond old conditioning. You don’t owe anyone constant access to you—especially when it comes at the cost of your peace.
And about Philip— I wonder if part of what makes the bond with him feel so special now is the space between you and him. If you were to reconnect, that space might close, and the reality of the relationship, the closeness—could stir up the same old fears. This cycle—idealization, closeness, fear, withdrawal—is something many people go through while healing from attachment injuries. It’s not a flaw in who you are. It’s a pattern rooted in past pain.
And still, your sadness is valid. Your longing is valid. Your grief makes sense, because this wasn’t just a breakup—it was the loss of something that felt meaningful and safe, at least in moments. I know it hurts, especially when it feels like your own patterns pushed him away. But even this hurt can be part of your healing. You’re learning what needs attention. What needs tenderness. What’s ready to shift—not because you’re broken, but because you’re growing.
You’re doing the work. And that matters so much.
Sending you warm hugs 🤍 Anita
anita
ParticipantJournaling this Thurs night- not dark yet, close to 9 pm- not even close to being dark. Birds Loud, Living, Singing-
Today, I thought I looked good, young-enough, very tanned, slender, muscular (107-8 lbs. at 5’5”, physically working every day).. wrinkles less showing on very tanned skin.. Lighting was just right.. (was at the local taproom).
S.O.C.I.A.L.I.Z.I.N.G.. oh, how much I love to socializing!!!!!!!
Didn’t feel OLD. Felt Y.O.U.N.G.
A precious feeling.. Feeling Young when.. officially, not young anymore.
A couple of people, men.. noticed me, noticed me. Not Old.
Listening to an Israeli song on YouTube: “Ani Ve’Ata Neshane et Ha”olam”- meaning,: you and I will change the world.
If you are reading this.. can you and I.. change the world?
Ani Ve’ Ata, can we make the world a little bit better.. Peter?
I wish I knew you better, Peter, in a personal way.. like how do you look like.. How tall are you, what color is your hair.. grey? The color of your eyes.. what is it?
Mine is brown with green in it.. and my hair, haven’t dyed it in.. what.. ten years.. It’s black with lots of White..
I got to be Old before I got to be Young..
And then, here I am Young-Old..
Anita
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