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41
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board / Re: Nothing much really
« Last post by Hopalong on March 16, 2025, 01:31:08 PM »
I do see.

It's like you have a straight objective but can't prevent your bright mind from getting involved, and the tangents become equal in importance, so the trip gets so much longer.

Actually describing myself and my ADHD, though. It's inefficient but interesting. Much worse with age but I'm trying to recognize and make room for the dancing elephants in my home.

hugs
Hops
42
Wonderful musings, Lighter, so much to chew on.

I resent male entitlement too but it's like resenting someone who just doesn't see what I see, either can't or intentionally won't (I can't always tell the difference). If I lived only in a world that indulged men and objectified or "othered" women, what else would I think if I were a boy? And if Dad was hard as well as brave, and shut down as well as quiet...what would boy-me grow up to think or act out about myself and my worth, even without knowing I was playing out generations of unconscious poisonous stuff? Watching women totter around in stilettos and pasty makeup masks with eyelash awnings sticking out of their eyelids isn't much better. It's weird. Like female camouflage that draws more attention than ever. How much attention do desperate girls need? Empowerment? Grrrrrl power or incessant consumerism? This culture's tragic. And look where we are. Even the Amish rape their daughters.

It's discouraging. Makes one want to rejoin the Society of Friends or anything that puts peace and kindness first. I miss male energy in my life, don't have much, but haven't figured out how to find men my age who've made thinking about such things a priority. But women can hurt you too. I've gotten stronger about not accepting it from women, without anger. One whiff of mean girl vibe and I have better things to do.

I recently forgave a mean girl who once humiliated me in front of a friend with a bucket of condescension. We're in the same discussion group and she's made several overtures, obviously not comprehending that I felt unsafe with her. I don't any more, so responded to her hug-request last time we met. She's found her way of coping, which is to dominate. Soooo nicely, subtly, reflexively. Maybe it's because she was raised in the foreign service, so always pivoting, posing, etc, to fit in with local culture whatever it was. I'm just not affected any more. And very surprised to find myself actually doing detachment, which for me feels necessary around her.

The men I've enjoyed most lately are the competent hardworking ones who do work for me, that I pay them well for. There's always some conversation and humor, but nothing enmeshed. The man who returns to Mexico every winter to work on his father's farm is precious to me. He wanted a hug before he left and I was glad to give it. He and others are under so much stress right now. The other man from the Central African Republic is the hardest worker I've ever hired and I want to support him too. He's very intelligent and dignified and meticulous about doing things well.
He fixed the very long fence where Pup was digging through and whew.

Don't know what else I was yammering about but I've enjoyed your thinking, Lighter. I understand how society's dramas become our own, it's half of what I think about all day.

hugs
Hops
43
We have a functional med chiropractor nearby.  Wish I knew about him years ago.

DD22 saw him Thursday.

This is going to be a bit of a long post, FYI.

And I knew DD wouldn't be happy, considering her history with ED and the fact I've been shoving supplements and healthier foods down her throat since she was in grade school.  There's food trauma, for us both, yikes.

Made me sad to read that.

The one silver lining is ......DD said she wanted to go AND she's been on board with making food choices and eating more consistently....suggesting meals and helping in the kitchen happily.  Don't get me wrong.....she voices her anxiety too. Whew, it's a roller coaster, but an ok coaster.

The Functional Medicine Guy (FMG) rattled off POTS, gallbladder and a connective tissue disorder DD has been researching and bringing up with Western health practitioners for years, always dismissed.

FMG ticked them off 1, 2, 3, without DD bringing them up,  then ordered a blood panel, which was my goal, and a relief. 

He practices visceral manipulation also.....is very pleased with outcomes and efficacy.  That's a new one for me.

My retired needy guy chiropractor friend knows who FMG is, and said he's a "solid practitioner."

I know FMG likes DD......is pulled to be helpful, but also rather tickled, I'd say, to interact with her.  A good sense of humor ranks high on DD's list for everyone, but she remains undecided about him.  Will know more when blood tests come back.

Feeling like I'm floating in calm, briny waters lately, as a way of being.  No vertigo lately, no feeling of popping up from levels, getting my collar bones sat on the ledge, then ribcage hauled up over, scraping as I go, etc.

I will admit, the food changes.....idea of being pristine with it, again, felt a little like leaning over the cliff, if I'm honest. 

Otherwise.....

There's an ease to being, that's noticable.....partly......my guard's at ease.  I haven't turned a corner with my fists up in a long while.  Typically, I note what's in my hands and pockets (pretty regularly), out of habit, and know what keeps me safe, if needed, but nothing in my chemistry changes,which is fantastic. This adjustment, to being, wasn't an easy or quick one.  Society more comfortable with naked female torsos in wooded areas than with...... whatever I've become, and I'm cool with it.  Very aware, of living life, for something other than the male gaze, and that's still not clear......
noticing resentment rise up as I contemplate addressing my own gaze.... and how it attracts unwanted male attention from the first halfers, having little to no self control, with selfish nurturing baby needs leading.....but also noticing the absence of rage at their chaos inducing entitlement to blow my world apart if displeased or thwarted. All about how they feel ....what I feel and want are towers to be dismantled, for them, ime. 

So......
🤢

Tuesday T appointment addressing misogyny....will make notes.

More ease, bc acceptance....less need to change what is.....while refusing to engage with it.  There's space between what is, I know .....where decent Second halfers exist.
The less pushy, entitled halfers.

My empathy draws the first halfers like moths.  Interesting to contemplate NOT allowing it to be weaponized against me, which has been a confusing ride. 

Interesting to understand what that is, and bounce over it.....no bones striking edges, yup yup yup.

DD22 somehow has many of my past traits with men.... and it's socialization, mostly, but also.....other things. That darned compassion......the first halfers, drawn to her too.  It's been modeled for her too.

I've said "What we say NO to, is more important than what we say YES to," bc being picked off a tree, like fruit for the taking by entitled infantile men... is familiar, rather than having time, space and breath for choosing something else. 

The vertigo makes more sense, now.

It's generational.  It's socialization and conditioning.....messaging and pits women against each other, sadly.  I wish that wasn't so.

I just chatted with Needy Friend and he tried to bullshit me with "I never abandoned you! Would never have!" We were discussing a grudge he's holding against a mutual friend.

I knew he was referring to 2 past boundaries I set with him ......I refused to discuss his affair with a married woman, and was not willing to listen to him go on and on about petty arguments neeeeeeeding his SOs to agree with him over so
many
petty
things. He turned his back on me, for years, bc I set boundaries, is the truth....and he assumed a victim posture, bc women are supposed to be compassionate beings, greasing social wheels at their own expense, coddling men, while pretending men aren't doing what they accuse women of BEING.

It seems so obvious now.😳

I thought it was just me, but it's half of men and many many many women pretend dancing these toxic steps..... familiar and dangerous to stop dancing, ime.

And needy guy laughed and giggled about my being right.....and calling him on his bullshit.  Almost tickled, with it, he was. I'm going to expect an apology , I realize.  Another refusal to accept the status quo.

Felt like clearing a game level in a dream.....and I told him to forgive a mutual friend and to call her in that conversation. He sees it.....he does what he was angry at her about .....and he found it funny, again.  Bloody hell.

Women do it, it's grounds for scorched earth.  Man does it, he goes all giggly Urkle, "did I do that?" 

 Ya..... the double standards were muffled, by conditioning, gaslighting and finger pointing, from birth to this very moment in time......they were certainly modeled in my family.  Instructed....man most important thing....you and children come next, if at all.  Mere appendages and status symbols to be paraded out and displayed....my mother considered herself an equal, but always believed children were secondary. The man, the marriage....was always primary and for hrr benefit.....good for her, but ....the kiddos.

Important things .... Status.  Let the big dogs run.  Even if he's mostly destructive and the creator of chaos in the family.  As long as he's measured by earning power, control over his family....... he's pretty standard stuff.....a "high value male."

We're using very sad measuring sticks.  Makes me weak and nauseous to contemplate that naked truth.

I put down another friendship......maybe 4 months ago, and realize.....I might not pick it back up .....maybe the longest friendship of my life.  Just .....stopped, sans decision to do so.  I think about it every once in a while, and don't miss it.  That might change.  Might not.

Swimming into clearer, cleaner waters ...and deciding it's better. We might still give each other a kidney, but....... right now there's nothing else, for my part.  He reached out once and is very good at reading a room.

DD24 still happy in her relationship with bf.  Seems very well matched .....beat their math, gamer brains, with my witchy ways, in Mahjong Thursday night, and they were super graceful, for such competitive beings.  Stayed till after midnight, relaxed and smiling......chatting about music and Drake and kidney stones.....tonsils....step.....ear aches.  Pets.  Baby girl pug's freshly cleaned chubby rolls. 

DD22 choosing not to date...... we're talking about the first halfers and second halfers....noticing together.

The journey continues.

Lighter






44
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board / Re: Nothing much really
« Last post by Meh on March 14, 2025, 09:58:01 PM »

From my point of view life is surreal. I really haven't felt like things are normal or real for quite a long time. Today was browsing a few job postings locally and one of them was for some receptionist type thing so I look it up and it's a psychiatry office that does ketamine along with other stuff I don't know what that stuff even is. Then I look up the address on Google maps and it's an old house not even a business office. Or at least one of their locations shows an old house. These are the weird jobs and businesses that exist outside large city areas. This is the weird fringe. Okay anyhow I look it up on YELP it's a bunch of people rating it really low. Wow the reviews make it sound like anyhow it sounds scary like it would not even be a reliable paycheck. So I am accustomed to working for pretty large businesses I guess. I mean pass. But it does tie into the previous stuff I had written about counseling therapists etc. but also my stupid insurance called me today asking if I needed help finding a provider and they could not locate one. I focus a lot on irritations. I mean it's practically like roling around in poison oak over and over again and maybe I need to stop doing that. But like I said I just find everything in life to be so weird these days. And end of this distraction. No more. Moving on. LOL and I keep reading and someone is saying one of the therapists told his wife to have an affair... I mean this is weird stuff. Really strange reviews the therapist teling the husband about the wife's session content. idk

Okay well looking out the window having a what the fuck moment and going back to where I was before I started wasting my time looking at these yelp reviews. See?

45
Yes, Hops.  I've hammered home the difference between judging and discernment.....made peace with it.

I skipped giving feedback, bc they're doing their guru thing.  Just bc it's not my thing, doesn't mean it's not someone's thing.

I'm going to help Moss Friend and her Granddaughter (with new baby) organize GD's home today. 

Lighter
46
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board / Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Last post by Hopalong on March 13, 2025, 11:29:40 PM »
Yikers, Amber, I'm so sorry about your rash/hives, etc.

I've switched to those flat sheets of concentrated detergent. They contain many fewer ingredients than conventional stuff and get the clothes clean. There are a bunch of brands available.

Has it started to clear?

hugs
Hops
47
I have a friend so in love with Botswana that she went three times last year.
She's doing a talk/pics thing about it and for some reason, I'm not tempted to go.

Might change my mind, dunno.

I was confused about this program you went to, but sounds as though you got some learnings out of it. You had to sign in online even though y'all gathered IRL?

The Sikh I go talk to once a month can be a little guru-y. But we really click, too. Once I thought he was asking more questions than he gave me time to answer, and told him so gently. He got it and pulled it in and that session was really good. He has a good sense of humor and is very patient with my alloverthemapness. Whew.

hugs
Hops
48
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board / Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Last post by sKePTiKal on March 13, 2025, 09:31:14 AM »
Thanks Tupp! I'm still an ugly itchy mess; even sleeping is a challenge. Nothing much is working and there is still stuff that needs to get done.

Hol's contractor friend is here this week. Another hill is getting terraced - this one for fruit trees. Her house is located on a rise, that flows down hill to her pond and the creek in a very large field. They're working well together. So far.

I made them dinner last night; split pea soup and sourdough bread.
49
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board / Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Last post by Twoapenny on March 13, 2025, 01:12:23 AM »
OH LORDY!!

I started breaking out in a rash a couple weeks ago. Thought maybe it was bugs (5 cats in the house) so I washed all the bedding. Rash spread; constantly ITCHES to high heaven. I have a pretty good calendula cream, tried that. Tried almost all my various potions/creams... can't find my bottle of Aloe... but we have plenty of plants. Rash turned in hives...

so I suspected an allergy. But to what? I've used Tide Free & Gentle for over 20 years. I did some searching online and lo and behold the formula changed... and I started seeing fellow sufferers complaining of the same rash, from whatever is in the new formula. I tried benedryl; half a 25mg doesn't affect me but kinda "tones down" the itch. I took a whole pill at bedtime but was hungover all the next day.

Bought Arm & Hammer sensitive skin detergent; rewashed bedding and all the clothes I'd recently washed. NOT HELPING; maybe this detergent uses the same chemical? Next, I'm going to try Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds. Hol swears by it; mostly castile soap. B keeps threatening to take me to the ER, but all they'll do is give me a Rx for a steroid cream... sigh.

So, this morning I broke out the cryptolepis salve. The herbs are infused in olive oil/beeswax to make a vasoline like salve. Cryptolepis is a pretty powerful antibiotic herb; given how much of my skin is broke out, I'm only trying it on a couple places to experiment. Thinking I might have some auto-immune over-reaction to the original irritant... but that hasn't happened to me, since I was 12.

Also drinking my detox tea, trying to boost things INTERNALLY. Just in case.

Do me favor & send me non-itchy good thoughts!

Non-itchy thoughts sent!  What a nightmare, I hate it when companies change components without warning, it's so hard for people who have allergies and intolerances.  I hope the herbs are helping and that you can find a non-itchy alternative.
50
Next T appointment will process energetic charge around generational/internalized and ever present misogyny.... it's just time.

Had dinner with needy guy and held stated boundaries, without a blip.  Such a relief....there were 2 stated boundary challenges and 2 inappropriate things said. He's living a very weak life.  I'm not focused on smoothing over his awkwardness.... I'm not abandoning myself to make sure he's ok.....not anymore.

Dispelling unconscious belief systems takes so much energy, IME.   Seems so simple on the other side, but it's like pulling pieces of buried glass shards out of a scarred over wound I received at birth and didn't realize was there, IME.  Have to get to it, then figure it out, share by dang shard.

I'm hoping enough to feel large pieces and parts engage, clear up, move through at some, very important and obvious point.  Expectations, anyone?

Today feels lighter, having written the above, out.  I picture wrestling a very slippery octopus, one then two, tentacle slipping out of my grasp, as 3 more pop up,  pull me off balance.....and I don't know exactly what to do with the darn things, but I keep trying to muscle them under control.

Control.

Difficult thing to remember the original list.....the spells I need .....
Self compassion....
Trading judgement for curiosity....
Embrace radical acceptance....
Release outcome.

The dao.....the way....the path to less suffering....to better things..... possible..... accessable.....likely things, yup yup yup.l

Lighter






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