Bless This Mess

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: PARDON OUR DUST!

I'm not even going to sugarcoat it, folks. I'll just be blunt...

I've had a history of dating men who entertain dalliances and distractions that they claim are merely friends, but to whom they're clearly attracted and cling to like safety nets, in case it doesn't work out between us. As a result, of course, it does not work out.

And I've attracted these insecure, unsure men because of my own insecurities ... ones which most definitely date back to my earliest relationship role models: my parents. Their mistakes and angsty vibes did not need to stick to me. I could have shook them off by not noticing them from the get go, but I didn't know that noticing things was a choice.

As a result, I felt fragile ... vulnerable to the whims of others, and fearful of any signs of those whims. I wondered why those things happened "to" me, what was it "about" me that brought repeat experiences with the most significant of significant others. I felt "not enough" and "defective" because I unable to keep a man's affection, and felt his gaze upon all the other more suitable models out there.

Did I need to play more mind games, like other girls? Did I need to dress more feminine? Did I need to lose weight? Did I need to take more interest in his interest? Or maybe less interest in his interests and more interest in what I wear or how I look? Was I just not girlfriend (or wife) material?

Occasionally, I even began to fantasize and even flirt with my own "safety nets" before he could dump me, thinking it would hurt less when it happened. I never followed through, however, and it never hurt any less.

I'm done. I renounce that girl and her silly thoughts.

I took nearly three long years to work on reshaping that brain of mine to be ready for a joyful relationship. I created an imaginary boyfriend, who had all the qualities that I ever wanted -- and only those qualities. It was utterly fantastic, and it brought me into alignment with new, and newer, and newer still real-world examples of this delightful creation.

It brought me to where I am today, actually... seven months into a relationship that is quite literally the best that I've ever experienced. You may say, "Ah, but it sounds like your bar has been set pretty low," and to that I say, "Why you gotta go harshing my mellow?"

The biggest thing that I've come to realize is that the imaginary boyfriend did not prepare me for dealing with my own thoughts and observations of things. And when those little things started to creep in, I found that I was still exactly in that same place emotionally where I left them years earlier ... and they were ready to run wild again when that floodgate got opened.

I was also not prepared for my real-life boyfriend's insecurities to act as triggers for mine. My imaginary boyfriend did not have any fears. He confidently marched forward into every phase of our "relationship" in glee and enthusiasm for every new twist and turn. He had no past experiences to hold him back, to doubt his choices, because he had no past. Of course I wasn't going to create an imaginary boyfriend who was scared of anything life would dish out ... he hadn't lived! And yet, he felt more alive than anyone else I'd met.

A tough act to follow, you say? Well, try following the other kind act ... the highly contrasty kind I outlined from my past relationships. THAT is the real tough act to follow. And alas, it still haunts me ... and in turn, can trigger my real partner even subconsciously. And that may very well be the case.

He mentioned his hesitancy and fears early on, and that dam that I'd built to hold my own fears sprung a leak. I tried to patch it, but another trigger created another crack, and another, and next thing I knew, I was spending as much time repairing cracks in that dam as I was ignoring the dam entirely.

I may be in a relationship with the wrong person, if I look at it from the half-empty side. He's not going to be the person who is two steps ahead of my insecurities ... and that isn't his job; it's mine. As a matter of fact, he might always be two steps behind my insecurities ... running up to help smooth over the patchwork of my dam cracks while trying to get me to turn away from the blue menace ... but then my dam cracks remind him of his own dam cracks, causing him to focus his attention back on them.

In turn, his dam cracks then get noticed by me ... causing me to focus on more of the things that I don't want, rather than focus on all the wonderful things that are already here that I do want. And this vision of the unwanted in turn diminishes my joy and distracts me from living that life that I created in my imagination.

But does it have to be all bad ... just a chain of pain? No, on the contrary!

The half-full view shows that I have attracted exactly the right person for where I am right now. This is my golden, life-altering opportunity to figure out how to let go ... truly let go ... of the little demons that have been underfoot in probably every relationship I've ever had. It is not his job to keep me secure.

And should he choose to do or be any of the ghosts that rattle their chains in my head and heart, why should that worry me? My job is to remember my fantastic, vibrational creation... to live like he exists because he does in everything and everyone ... and to recognize every instance of him in whoever and wherever he may show up ... to focus on what I want and hold that focus to find more and more of that showing up.

As a result of this focus, I may lose touch with more people ... even those who are dear to me ... in the process of sticking to this ideal. People who cannot or will not face the direction that I'm facing. Either they will fall away on their own accord, or I will need to seek directions away from them, but it is for the best for everyone. If there have been past hurts, there is no need to invite opportunities for future ones.

And if there a current opportunities for joy, there is only need to invite more of the same. In the process of moving toward better feeling places, new opportunities will arise, and the people who are still in my life and who will enter my life will have plenty of room to delight me.

So if I lose touch, dear ones, please know that I am doing well ... really well. Know that I love you and always will, and we'll meet up again whenever we're vibing in the same place. I'm excited to be able to tell you about all the wonderful things that I've found along the way!

UPDATE: 

What a difference a day makes. We discussed this blog and these things. And what came of it was there was absolutely no reason to let go and all the reason to see how this goes. The discussion ranged the gamut of fear and bewilderment to happiness and warmth. 

I had held back for 7 months from talking in as much detail as I had today about my demons because I didn't want to feed them, but they were growing anyway. And now that discussed them fully and openly, I also swore to myself and to him as well that I won't talk about my demons beyond this. Nor will I talk about his beyond today's discussion. 

I feel good. I hope he does, too, but it doesn't matter, because I'm going to picture him feeling awesome about this ... even more awesome than he already felt. 

Then this evening, I thought, "I haven't checked Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology site in a while ... I wonder if he has his whimsical spin on life ready for this week now?"

Sure enough, he just posted the newest ones today! And wow, if they ever weren't perfectly timed for this post. 

Here's mine: "Divine Intervention" 

Click Sagittarius to open full size.

Here's his: "Passion" 

Click Taurus to open full size.

Just what the love doctor ordered. 

Faker Flaker

I have decided that it would be a great use of my time to plan and promote a huge event on Facebook, complete with location, bait (FREE ALCOHOL, BACON, AND KITTENS!), and constant updates about how awesome the event is going to be on April 1st.

And then watch from a distance as people show up... to nothing.

I'm actually too lazy to actually do this, however. Would someone else like to take this idea and run with it?

I Have a Feeling...

I may never never hit "publish" on another blog post again.

No, really. I'm serious! This isn't writer's block.

I'm writing stuff; I'm just not posting.

This is writer's constipation.

Top of the World!

Tonight, tragedy hit this household. Or so it seemed. 

While removing the cover of a perfectly defrosted and completely untouched coconut cream pie that I'd bought for my birthday, the beautiful thing slipped from my hands and ended up on the floor upside-down, of course. I now had floor pie. Again. (Yes, I've done this before. No, I haven't learned from it.) Not completely inedible floor pie, mind you, but mostly wasted. As I was savoring a few creamy spoonfuls of non-floor touching parts, I realized a few positive things had come of this accident.

Saddest sight ever, after I'd flipped it back over (and tasted some of it).

First, the way it splattered on the floor--it's light fluffy texture splayed out around the edges as well as melting in my mouth--made me realize why the coconut cream pie has always been the clown favorite for a pie in the face. Genius and tasty, who could be mad? I'm remembering this the next time I think I might like to surprise someone with a face pie. I'm thinking it's a different reaction than the resounding sadness and disappointment I usually get from people over my floor pie.

"I don't fight, Baby. I'm a lover!" A pie lover, that is.

Second, I probably should not have been left alone with that whole pie anyway, because I most definitely would have eaten from it until I was sick ... then probably eat some more after a nap. All of my workouts would be for naught for weeks! This way, I got to taste it, which is really all I wanted, and not lose control. Silver lining!

"Any world that can produce the Taj Mahal, William Shakespeare,
and Stripetoothpaste can't be all bad."

So while I'm on this topic of silver linings, I thought I'd write up a few of the other awesome things that seemed like tragedies, but quickly turned awesome lately:

1) A few weeks back, a huge, dead tree branch fell on my super awesome Nissan Cube, Mothra. I love that damn car, so naturally, I was mega bummed about the damage. However, nothing could've gone smoother with the repair, the worst part of which was having to be without Mothra for 10 days, while I drove a dull Mazda. When I returned the Mazda, the Enterprise clerk was stunned to learn that it wasn't in their system anymore because it had sold. Guess someone learned that a world famous blogger was driving it and have to have it!

That rental was completely free, by the way, and my deductible was so stunningly low, people gasped when they heard at the repair shop. But before I even paid them a dime for the repair, I'd received a check for double my deductible from Allstate because of Mothra's "diminished value" or something. Then just today, I received a letter from Allstate saying, "We'd like to give you an extra $300 dollars for your car's diminished value and for you being so awesome." Or something like that. As my boyfriend put it, "You got hit by a money tree!" I did, indeed.

"You and your 14 karat oomph!"

2) Speaking of Mothra, she and I were recently pulled over for speeding in Byron County, Georgia by a very sweet, young officer, who complimented me on my rear-view mirror disco ball, to which I cheerily replied, "Yeah, and it looks extra awesome with your pretty colored lights flashing in it!" He ended up letting me off with a warning, despite the fact that I qualified for a "super speeder" ticket. Just to be extra nice, he even clued me in to the fact that I'd be fine if I "just keep the cruise control at 80." (The speed limit is 70.) I didn't even have to cry and/or show cleavage!

"Well, that's the kind of a hairpin I am."

This would be awesome in and of itself, but it's also the third time in the last year that I've dealt with sweet, young police officers for things that were clearly my fault, only to have them bend over backwards to be super sweet to me. They all could easily have been cop strippers in their off hours, if they wanted to be, too. I'm just sayin'.

3) And I wouldn't have even had that fun cop experience if I wasn't coming back from my awesome boyfriend weekend. This is the best part of all of the good things of late (which are too many to write here), is that I lined myself up with this really awesome, great-fit of a guy. "'Bout time," you say? I know, right!?

How is this part of the tragedy-turned-awesome sauce? If you recall, it seemed a few months back that I'd failed at yet another relationship attempt with someone else, but in actuality I had already met the one that I really wanted to know better. That "zing" that I felt on the first in-person meeting grabbed me and hasn't let go. As a matter of fact, if it just keeps getting stronger, I may literally burst. I think the most most accurate description of that feeling was given earlier tonight, when we had this exchange:

Without giving away too much of the bursty magic, I'll just share these photos with you all here, to let you soak in whatever you infer. These were taken years (decades?) apart, but you can just assume that every picture taken between those shots was equally awesome (along with every moment), because I truly can't tell the difference if they aren't: 

Photo courtesy of his ex-wife, who calls this one "Frolic."

And I call this one "Magically Delicious!"

I know he loves these odes that I keep posting about him here (although publicly he'll deny it), so I'll just keep going.

In his self-deprecating humor, he recently referred to himself (I'm using "himself" very loosely here) as occasionally being a bit like Peter Lorre (which I am more than okay with):

But I think it would be just as accurate to say he's (also using "he" loosely) a kinder, less-punchy Jimmy Cagney:

What do you mean you don't see it? Here, look again: 

Uncanny, isn't it!?

Fortune Favors the Bold (Font)

Full Beaver Moon

a.k.a. "My Vagina's Monologue"

Is this thing on? Check one, two. Check! Check!

Yes, okay. Hello. Hi. How is everyone on this lovely, and quite appropriately named "Full Beaver Moon" evening?

Whew! I've been a very busy gal lately. My "handler" (she thinks she's in charge, but we all know who's running this circus) has done a great job rejuvenating me and taking me on interesting adventures!

What I gathered you all here to tell you is ... and this is just between you and me ... I'm not actually secretly trying to get my handler pregnant! Shhhh!

Oh sure, she thinks I am. She's been accusing me of that for going on 3 months now, ever since she met my awesome new boyfriend's "handler" (he also thinks he's in charge, but really isn't). She thinks I don't know she's had me "fixed" ... oh, I know, trust me. I know. Who do you think gave her that idea?

Yeah, it's true that I've been allowing Aunt Flow to visit me more often ... four days sooner than her trusty lifetime of perfectly timed 28-day visits. Honestly, I don't like her anymore than any of you do. I get better attention and service when she's not hanging around, throwing a damp rag over things, so I'm not exactly thrilled that she'll be arriving two extra times in the coming year at this more frequent rate.

I'll let you in on the bigger picture that my handler is missing here: You know that fantastic, high testosterone, mid-cycle time? Yeah, the time when a gal *could* get pregnant. Well, I'm getting more of those in the coming year, too! (Pun intended.) Everybody wins! (Especially me.)

And to tell you the truth, I'm not in control of this. And neither is he. It's those magical, mystical, chemical properties in our pheromones causing all of this. It's probably also the same thing that makes my handler regularly not pay attention to her surroundings, so she will trip and fall, and makes his handler absentmindedly mistake fancy hand dryers for urinals.

Together, this dynamic--albeit distracted--duo are a chemistry tour de force. His handler probably doesn't feel the effects of this as jarringly as my handler does, because his hormones let him bathe in it more constantly, letting him get fully acclimated to it. Unfortunately for us over here at Team Vagina, we have to surf with the estrogen tides.

I am here, however, to apologize for not letting my handler know that I'd be letting Aunt Flow make earlier visits, thus throwing off her ability to understand when she was suddenly feeling angsty or needy or forlorn or extra horny, even. When you throw a curve ball more than half a week in advance with no warnings, there isn't time to know when to take a swing at it or duck.

Last night I inspired her to get out of bed just to look at the calendar, after my favorite guy's handler said, "Didn't you fall apart like this last month?" She thought he was wrong for suggesting that monthly anniversary milestones might be the cause, and he was ... but he wasn't wrong on there being a pattern. She saw the "4 days early ... 4 days early ... 4 days early there, too" pattern last night, however.

Sorry about not letting you know about this sooner. If I simply started talking to you out loud, you might not handle that too well either. But now we're finally all on the same calendar page! Isn't that great!?

Okay, yeah, my handler had to have a couple unexpected meltdowns a time or three--and maybe even bum my boyfriend's handler out in the process a bit--but knowledge is power now. Yay!

Heck, even just having spent an evening with him once in June and again once in August, before any of the real fireworks began, made Aunt Flow think she needed to arrive two days early each of those times ... just in case. The mere hint of the pheromone chemistry is just that good.

Also, sorry to tell you this, girlfriend, but I'm probably going to ruin some of your fun this coming weekend, too.

Yes, four days early.

Yes, again.

I promise I'll make it up to you both very soon ... like four days sooner! See, everybody wins!

Okay, I think we're done here.

Play me out, Cat...

No, not Keyboard Cat! C'mon, everyone knows vaginas love Cat Stevens.

The Astral Factor

Two weeks ago ...and damn, I should not have taken so long to write about this... something weird was up with my usually laid-back, nonchalant boyfriend. He got really, keenly interested in whether I was working late or not, and specifically wanting to know just how late I might be working, and where I'd be going after that. Now that's not to say he isn't normally interested in my daily activities, because he is, but not to that precise level of detail. After a couple days of this, I learned why.

When I returned home late one evening and checked my mailbox, I spied an envelope among the bills and junk mail that had handwriting scrawled on it. That, along with a street name with which I was intimately familiar, made me realize who sent this missive.

No, not that. It was the word "Astral" that I recognized.

"(Gasp!) A letter from Scott!?" I squealed giddily, forgetting that my middle dorkling was in the car, too.

"Who's 'Scott'?"

"My boyfriend ... you know ... Scott!"

"The guy you're dating NOW?"

"Yeah, who else would I mean?"

"But you talk to each other ALL THE TIME! Why would he send you a letter, when he could text or email you?"

"Because HE'S AWESOME, and he thinks I'M AWESOME, too! That's why!"

He shot me this look, as if he were about to argue with me...

...but then just turned, shook his head while muttering to himself, "old people are weird," and slammed the car door behind him.

I immediately ran past him, nearly pushing him over to get inside the house, and giddily sequestered myself in my office like a rabid teen with her first love letter ever ... ignoring dogs and dorklings alike all clamoring to get my attention.

Pulling the hastily torn, yellow legal pad pages from the envelope, my eyes immediately filled with stars ... sort of like this:

It was just too damn cute to stand! First he apologized for writing in his own pen versus a computer printer, as if he didn't realize that I would find the fact that he still uses cursive incredibly quaint and adorable. Then everything began to make sense--all of his nervous questions of the previous days--as I read the line, "I wanted to surprise you with an actual, old tyme letter."

After that, the wording gets too steamy to repeat here, and continues that way for a whole page. If I show you, this might happen:

I can only share with you the last page, but that's the part that made me well up with happy tears...

Okay, turns out I couldn't share the whole last page with you, as there were more steamy bits, but you can get the gist in that last part as to why my eyes would start leaking.

With happily blurred vision, I immediately had to crow to friends about this delightful surprise in a status update, which in turn set off a flurry of "oohs" and "ahs," with people lighting up hither and yon. 

Then I believe my body turned to sparkles and floated on a cloud for days afterwards, like this: 

... heck, my body is still all sparkly-floaty like that. Don't get too close to me, or it'll look like you've been using glitter, the herpes of the crafting world.

To this day, I'm still delighted by the thoughtfulness, the tangibleness, the nervousness, the cursiveness, the sexiness, and the sweetness of it all. Honestly, he says these similar things to me on a daily basis, always has, and there was not a special occasion for him to express these words to me, so it's not that he surprised me with how he felt. He just purely touched me with his ability to follow an inspiration to take the time to write his feelings down, and to surprise me with it the way he did, when he did. 

It's just further proof that I did a damn fine job lining myself up with that imaginary, placeholder boyfriend, because the real deal who stepped into that place is everything I wanted and then some.

I don't think I've ever loved or felt loved as deeply as I do right now. Every time we part, I feel more in love than when we came together; every time we see each other again, I somehow feel even more in love than when we last parted. I don't know how it keeps expanding, and I don't care ... I just want to see how far it can go. As I like to tell him from time to time, I was happy before I met him, but he makes it so easy to stay there. 

I also tell him that I often feel like I'm about to burst into Skittles ... and that might happen, dear readers! So don't be surprised when it does, okay? You heard it here first. Please alert Weekly World News should that happen ... I hope it gets me a mention next to Bat Boy.

Right before he sent me a friend request back in January, I had a quirky little guitar song stuck in my head for a couple of days. Now I see my inner brain DJ was letting me know I was on the right track. I thought I'd close this random ode to my awesome boyfriend with that fitting ditty: "Heart of My Heart"... 

...along with some interpretive dance. 

_______________________________

Author's note: 

Many of the pictures above--though not all--were lifted from a truly terrible 1976 movie called THE ASTRAL FACTOR. Do yourself a favor and don't watch it sometime. And while you're not at it, don't watch the 1984 release of it, where they added extra awful music, and possibly changed the title to INVISIBLE STRANGLER or some nonsense. 

Remember, watching at your own risk could cause this: 

And this!: 

And THIS!!!: 

You've been warned!