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- This topic has 1,633 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 6 months ago by Cali Chica.
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September 14, 2018 at 12:03 pm #225725Cali ChicaParticipant
Poor service so i Think it posted multiple times!
- This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by Cali Chica.
September 14, 2018 at 12:05 pm #225727Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
i an feeling tired this afternoon doing a commute to nyc, how are you.
About this girl – I will get back to you on her. Her wedding is next week, I won’t be spending much one on one time with her – but I am sure I will observe plenty. More on that sort of topic later.
I teresting you mentioned that we can not own another. I especially like your term deep respect. This is opposite of what my mother taught me. She did not teach me to respect differences as her or OUR Ways was superior. It was terrible planning a wedding with her, and given that I was brainwashed it led me to be quite controlling of my husband’s opinions. Just a year ago I would have said no that’s wrong or this is right. Or instead of saying that directly would have found myself upset and disappointed when things didn’t go the “right” way. What way is that?! The way my mother brainwashed me into thinking is right.
But the thing with mothers like these is – the goal posts are always moving. Nothing is ever enough. You said this quite early on over a year ago. All is done in vain, as it is like feeding a bottomless pit. If today X is the goal, tomorrow it’s Y. You achieve X and say look what I did! And she says oh X doesn’t mean much anyway – Y is what counts. So now you must chase the next thing. How exhausting, terrible, and down right abusive.
So today I am on the train right now – and I notice some tension just because. Why? Well it is baseline. So I scan through all the things I could be stressed about in this moment or evening. Wow couldn’t find much this time! Well that’s nice. I know it will take time and practice to alter the baseline completely. But I do notice changes. I notice today I am enjoying my own company. I am heading there solo to do some errands and I feel quite at peace for this alone time. Alone amongst a world of chaos in this city, yet solitude and peace nevertheless. I feel good in my skin. I feel happy with the individual I am. The maturity I have. The growth over just the last few months. I feel brave. I am strong. I am unique. I am healthy and whole – and learning every day.
September 14, 2018 at 1:11 pm #225733AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
I mentioned earlier base anxiety as the term you used, my mistake: baseline anxiety is your term (I remembered earlier and I see it here on your recent post).
I read some of your post, I can imagine you being on the train to NYC. I am tired too, by the way. And so I am looking forward to read your recent post thoroughly (and any you may add by then) when I am back to the computer in about 15 hours. I like your last two lines that I happen to be looking at right now.
anita
September 15, 2018 at 5:37 am #225763AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
You were devoted to your mother, as a girl and as you became a woman, you wanted to please her so you did things the “right” way, that is, her way. But nothing you did was ever enough, “All is done in vain, as it is like feeding a bottomless pit”.
“You achieve X and say look what I did!”- this is you, Cali Chica the child, trying to please her mother. “And she says oh X doesn’t mean much anyway- Y is what counts”. That hurts, not to be appreciated for X. But a child doesn’t give up easily, to please her mother, to gain her mother approval, to be stamped with that OKAY stamp by the mother. So the child tries again, “now you must chase the next thing”.
You are no longer chasing your mother for that stamp of approval. You know it was a hopeless chase, one to keep you running for nothing. Part of you is still running, those neuropathways of past don’t get undone. Learning is adding new neuropathway like a mass of spider webs and in so doing, changing the three dimensional neuropathway mapping of the brain. The baseline anxiety will weaken as the mapping continues to changes.
Yesterday as you rode the train you felt good in your skin, happy with who you are, brave, strong, unique, “healthy and whole- and learning every day”.
You felt yesterday that stamp of approval you used to chase by pleasing your mother, doing A, B, C .. X, Y. No more chasing her. No more chasing anyone or anything.
anita
September 15, 2018 at 6:50 am #225775Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
You felt yesterday that stamp of approval you used to chase by pleasing your mother, doing A, B, C .. X, Y. No more chasing her. No more chasing anyone or anything.
Yes! you are right. NO more chasing anyone or anything. wow, life CAN be this way. In fact, what was all this chasing doing? I did not realize I was not truly chasing things (achievements, objects, milestones) or people – I was ONLY truly chasing my mother’s approval. Even without her presence, I was chasing the mother voice’s approval. Like running through the world with a tape of her monologue on repeat. It doesn’t matter where I am, what I am, or who I am with – this monologue does not stop. It is endlessly running. Now that this tape is thrown out the window, the voice still remains, as there are old neuropathways as you said. But without the tape on repeat – I can also hear my OWN voice. My voice has been speaking all along? But did I listen, no..My mother’s voice was all too powerful and overpowering mine became small. Now I will listen.
September 15, 2018 at 7:44 am #225779AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
What a powerful post, wow!
anita
September 23, 2018 at 12:07 pm #226835Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
i am going to discuss some things today and feel free to converse when you’re free.
I have talked about how my mother is a narcissist. You and I don’t get too caught up in terms and diagnosis. As what is more important is the reality and pattern and spotting it. But for conversation sake we will call her a narcissist. An N.
Often children raised by an N develop some of these qualities. Now they aren’t qualities as a result of anger. No these are personality traits and tendencies. I have mentioned some of these to you before. Especially in regards to my husband. We have always discussed and brought it back to the roots. Such as TDW the Disney world example. It makes sense.
We also have talked about emotional numbness. And how sometimes anger is the only accessible emotion. I have learned a lot of suppressed emotions as well as unconscious suffering. Things that’s are difficult to think about in a tangible sense.
But – what if I have more than just N qualities or emotional numbness?
This weekend many events happened, and I do feel I am like my mother. Now I’ll get into those details once we talk more but I want to outline my thoughts. I am no different than my mother. In the ways she abused me mentally and emotionally battered me down. I did the same to my husband Anita. And this is objective not me feeling bad or sensitive today. I objectively did quite similar.
I know now my mother is not capable of true love for me. I don’t know if I am capable of true love either. I am a great friend. Supporter, talker, empath, all these things. But true selfless love for another. It feels quite foreign. In fact with that first boyfriend it was the same. It wa very much at the end he could not have enough love for 2 individuals. At a certain point I had to show authentic love too.
When it comes to my husband now I do not have authentic love and respect. Do I see it in other couples and recognize it- yes. And even understand it in theory. But it feels foreign in a way. And no this is not because of him, and not because he is the wrong guy. I know this is ME. I have always done or been this way in every relationship and I know I always would be with any future guy.
Pwrhaps Anita, I too, am not capable of true authentic love
September 24, 2018 at 7:53 am #226963AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
Regarding you having abused your husband, do you still??
“I too, am not capable of true authentic love”- to state that you are or may be incapable of “true authentic love” you must have an idea of what this means, this thing you are not capable of. What does it mean to you, true authentic love?
anita
September 24, 2018 at 8:17 am #226971Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
No I do not anymore. I am conscious now and have clarity. The more clarity I gained about my mother and her abuse the more I gained about my own self and traits. Hence all of our posts for 2 years now. But that doesn’t mean I am bounced back now of course. I am not by any means remorseful for what I did or even aware of it. I just float through life and focus on my thoughts and healing – like what I do with you.
My definition – wow that’s tough. I see it as loving someone more than even your own self. Putting their needs first. Feeling for them and not getting your own hang ups in the way.
Perhaps I do not know as I can not access much emotion as it is mostly repressed. As you said the most or even only accessible emotion is anger. But all else is beaten down or out of me.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by Cali Chica.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by Cali Chica.
September 24, 2018 at 8:30 am #226979AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
I think I understand what you mean, yes, we talked about it before, you expressed it before. I think of it as you lacking that softness of emotions. You had to block softness, of course you had to block it so to survive and function as well as you have.
Now that you have survived and achieved what you have achieved, you want that softness back (it was there before, in young Cali Chica). It is a heavy price to pay, to be blocked this way, to be rough, having this thick skin that doesn’t allow the experience of loving feelings, joy, that pleasant, gentle okay feeling. So you float through the day with that thick skin/ wall separating you from your soft feelings and from soft, sincerely felt interactions with others.
Did I express it correctly?
anita
September 24, 2018 at 8:36 am #226981Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
Yes you did. And I can “feel” for smaller things such as a sad movie or even hearing a story. I can for my dog. But say something big happened, a death in the family let’s say. I would feel numb and dissociated – blank.
Like I feel love that is natural for my dog. But not the same for almost anything else in life. Sounds strange I know.
The softness you’re right is turned into hardness a shield
September 24, 2018 at 9:07 am #226985AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
Not strange to me. Dissociating, numb, blocked soft emotions much of the time, this is how I was most of my life. Like you, my dissociation was not complete, probably it never is complete.
Your dog does not represent a threat to you, so no wonder you feel more for him. You… don’t project your mother into your dog, so your dog is .. just a dog for you.
When something big happens, alarms is rung through the pathways of the brain and dissociation is activated automatically. When you watch a movie, on the other hand, no alarm, you know it is fiction, not really happening, so soft emotions are not blocked.
The good news is that you are not like your mother. You are like a whole lot of people who protected themselves from people like your mother. Another good news, you can re-associate, get that softness back beyond interacting with your dog, watching movies or here and there, at times. After all, it is happening with me, this re-association, the gradual undoing of the disassociation. It is doable.
Not easy though, can’t just will it to happen, but having faith that it can happen, that it is doable, and aiming at it is a beginning in this process of re-associating, softening. I wonder if you need the psychotherapeutic setting to do this kind of work.
It will have to be an excellent therapist to satisfy you, though.
anita
September 24, 2018 at 5:19 pm #227329Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
thank you for reminding me I can re-associate. I see it in you and I know it is possible for me.
I want to share with you that today is the beginning of a new chapter for us. We have officially quit our jobs here and have 2 months off to rest heal and sink and savor. After which we will be moving to NYC. I am grateful for this time and grateful for you. I will re read all we wrote about in the last 2 days and let it sink in. Thanks for having faith in me even when I lose it.
September 25, 2018 at 5:40 am #227383AnonymousGuestDear Cali Chica:
You are welcome. Make the best use of this time off healing, sinking and savoring. How exciting, moving to NYC!
Re-associating is possible in the context of a safe relationship. It is possible in therapy if there is that safe (professional) relationship there. But it is possible within a safe personal relationship.
I repeated in the past how important it is that you have a good relationship with your husband, for this very reason, a person cannot heal and re-associate alone. One safe, loving personal relationship is necessary to have if you aim at healing and re-associating.
anita
October 3, 2018 at 3:52 am #228745Cali ChicaParticipantDear Anita,
It’s been only one week since we have ended our jobs, moved and have had time off. But it feels much longer given that it has allowed for much time for observation. Ever since we moved out, I have been living with my in-laws. My father-in-law had a surgery, nothing major, and we have been here to help him and support him in every way. It has been quite special to be here during this time. I’m typical Indian tradition style, during this last week they’re also has been an outpouring of family members who come visit to show support. It has been nice to be here to have that role, the daughter-in-law a roll, voluntarily, to help greet, cook, clean, and host these guests. Like I’ve said before, my mother never really taught me what it is like to be a wife, or even a mature woman. So to engage in this role is quite satisfying. And it is fun.
However, going back to your statement, the importance of the relationship between my husband and I, the importance of it for support, healing, and for my reassociating. I think about this multiple times a day. I noticed that my husband and I have not had any emotional respite.
Ending our jobs, probably moving, and coming here and being engaged with family has been good- but not restful. And last night we spoke about how what we really need is some emotional respite, the time to whine down, and let go. It is nice to be able to have these conversations with them because it shows me that we are on the same page. It is quite a good feeling to feel on the same page with someone intuitively, for your needs. In addition, I haven’t been feeling more relaxed at all, in fact perhaps more round up, going from the above, to being involved with family 24 hours a day has not let me really unwind given that I am such a extroverted and “do all” person. I have observed this about myself, and even over the last seven days notice that there’s a difference between what I enjoy doing out what I should do, and what is based out of my mental patterns of right and wrong. For example if the entire family is engaging in a conversation, I don’t necessarily have to always pitch in to the level I do. I know I got this from my mother, it was always constant talking with her, 24 hours a day seven days a week. So I assume that this pattern as normal, and necessary. But there have been a few times where I’ve sat back and just relaxed and observed the conversation and it has been that much more peaceful. Slow learning this is, and observation. At the end of the day, what my husband and I really need is a true vacation, some rest, and mental space. We are planning a trip like that coming up soon. I’ll tell you more about that later.
Sorry for any typos, I am observing a beautiful sunrise, and voice texting and typing on my phone.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Cali Chica.
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