Dear Zoe:

Making friends and dating…. being that you have been feeling so much better lately, after ten years of depression, be careful. These are my thoughts and I type them as I think them: I used to think that once I get healed, once I became “normal” that I will be able to join the normal world, will be able to finally connect. I thought that once I was healed I will be good enough for others to connect with. Wrong thinking on my part! I didn’t know how much sickness is in the world, that I was far, far from being the only one that was sick. There was no bunch of normal, healthy people waiting for me to heal so to join them.

Be careful who you connect with, see to it the best you can that you are trying to connect to this or that healthy person. See to it that you will not be paying the price of your mental well being so to connect.

This is exactly how I lost my mental well being: by trying to connect with my mother. I failed at connecting with her AND I lost my well being, the well being I must have had when i was a young child.

Connections can heal and can make you sick. Be cautious.

So, my advice is to take it slow. You are twenty, that is okay. I would give you the same advice if your were 15 or 51. Take it slowly, learn as you interact, learn about who that person is that you are interacting with and you will naturally learn more about yourself through the interactions. Pay attention. Be curious.

anita