I’m listening to the Making Polyamory Work podcast series and came across the episode on Beyond the Five Love Languages, and it gave a good idea on writing down specific things that make me feel loved. So I’ll be putting those down here later once I’m less busy.
Emotion
Ear Worm / Burden feeling lifted 7-30-21
Every so often stuff happens in my life, either by choice or not, and a song somehow gets linked to the event. Songs, like any other artistic expression, tend to take on different meanings for people regardless of the intent of the creator. And so this song, “Addict”, has become linked to my choice on blocking all contact with an ex. I think it finally clicked on how toxic that connection could be, even as friends. I made my mistakes in communication and said too much, sure (I’m also wondering if I’m not at least a little Autistic with my trouble of being socially aware/adept), but she always used my mistakes as ways to try to break me down and find ways to make me feel even more like crap. It’s excessive, not constructive, and absolutely not healthy for me to be around. Social media only made it worse by constantly trying to push contact with her too. It’s part of why I’ve drastically reduced my time there. Removing that app from my phone has been incredibly helpful. I’ll occasionally look at it through my PC, but only in very short increments. And I realize, there isn’t much I’m missing.
I think it’s the opening lines that are sticking with me the most in this song.:
“This is a brand new start. And I think I deserve some praise for the way that I am”.
The end of the music video with the blowing up of the club feels fitting. Sometimes burning a bridge really is the way to go. Anyhow. here’s the video link. Serious trigger warning on stuff in there, so put on your thickest skin if you watch.
4-7-21 Thoughts on emotional neglect
My brain has been cycling through this for a couple days now and I think I may have gleaned a few insights on some of my patterns. The point about turning anger on myself actually being the voice of my care takers when I was younger stuck with me.
I’m starting to see the pattern on when I experience depression (I haven’t had any episodes for a good amount of time now) and how it relates to conflicts I may be having in life at the time. They tend to occur when there are inter-personal conflicts going on in my life. Even when I’m not actively dealing with the issue, the negative energy (I use that term loosely) seeps into my psyche. I never lash out at people, nor is my first instinct to fight back when someone lays into me, even when they’re being unreasonable. This effect becomes more pronounced the more I care about someone. The result of this pattern is that I’ll experience heavy shame about myself for even simple mistakes. This easily transfers into self-loathing and depression. I can also see why sometimes that state will hit me out of the blue given. Long story short, I had a lot of experiences growing up where my authentic emotional self was unacceptable and led to trouble…therefore the natural response was for me to hide and shutdown what I felt. The problem is shutting down isn’t an effective long term strategy. It always came back to haunt me.
I coped with this problem by focusing on my achievements. Doing well in a video game or school worked for a while, until they didn’t anymore. That was a really rough patch in my life. Then I went back to school and ended up with a solid career. Then I started taking care of my body. Those became my new coping mechanisms. These were the objective measures I held onto like a buoy during the turbulent storm that could be my mind. I could have just as easily slipped into hard drugs and/or toxic crowds as a coping mechanism instead…and many people do. I was fortunate that I was such a shut-in nerd that I just didn’t get those opportunities and I had WAY too much social anxiety to want to hang around any crowds, let alone toxic ones. There’s also a lot to be said when it comes to toxic masculinity and CEN.
I know this is easier said than done, but I have work to do on separating the conflicts I have with people from my internal state. I do have a hard trigger that results in me feeling intense shame when people I love come down on me. Especially when I feel that it is coming from a place of anger. Here’s what I need to ask myself the next time I find myself in that place.
1. Did I reasonably know doing/saying (or not doing/saying) this thing would cause this reaction? For example, did I know this person had a cultural expectation that I trespassed on? Did they communicate this expectation to me previously?
2. Is their reaction reasonable?
3. Do I trust my intentions?
4. If a mistake was made, then learn from it and move on. If a mistake is continually and/or aggressively held against me, that is their issue, not mine.
4-2-21 Life update
it’s been a while since I have updated this blog. I’ve noticed more likes and follows despite this…which is better odd, but cool. I hope my meanderings have been useful in some way.
Today is the first day I’ve been on the metro in over a year. it’s a weird experience. I’m going to spend the weekend with a partner of mine. I think this is the first time I’ve been able to spend this much time with a poly partner that wasn’t basically a hotel outting. There’s a poly milestone for you. They’ve risen the bar for good partners. I feel at ease around them.
On the fitness stuff… I’m platued at 170 and 22% bodyfat. Sometimes I’ll drop to 167, but that seems to be mostly at the expense of water. I haven’t been doing the same amount of evening workouts and walka due to injuries. I’m in the mend now. My trainer is changing gyms so my schedule is currently in flux. I’ll know more next week on how I’ll move forward. Either we can make something work at planet fitness or I’ll have to work with a different trainer at my main gym.
My goal is still 15% bodyfat by August 15.
Fine ways to lift each other up, not disqualify.
Another thought train on the move. I was thinking on why things with my partner feel so right. I’m not getting that crazy limerice or nre sensation. I’m not feeling distracted by them (other stuff distracts me instead).
This person has made it part of their core to have people feel safe around them. I think I’m feeling the effects of that now. I’m able to speak of my passions and my vulnerabilities and not feel judged. If anything, my eccentries are celebrated. If there is something I don’t know, they are happy to teach me. They include me with their activities. They don’t hide me from their friends. They constantly try to remind me that I’m special, that I’m good. It might even seem a little repetitive at times and I don’t know what to say…but it sinks in.
inevitably I can’t help but compare to the experience with my ex during that last month. I still feel pain over all the thinga she tried to disqualify me for. I wasn’t this. I felt bad about things. My having feelings were invalidated. While I try to avoid casting blame as I’m sure there were a myriad of factors on her end, at the end of the day I did not feel wanted. It was one more person that I had to constantly justify my existence to. I adored her, but I just could not stay in that environment.
I need people who can celebrate my passions and interests and I will do the same for them. To help make each other the best versions of themselves. I don’t want to be in a relationship based on fighting to qualify.
Find our middle ground and just love each other.
3-2-21 Supported
This will be short. Being in good spirits probably doesn’t make for the most engrossing read but it is where I’m at. I recently met someone who has not only been incredibly sweet, but also amazingly supportive of my artistic interests. That means a lot to me. Having an avoidant/dismissive background makes it hard for me to share my passions with anyone for fear of the rejection. So I would just shut down pre-emptively shutdown to avoid the pain. To have it openly embraced feels really good. This one is special.
1-5-2021 New Routine Plan
I’m making adjustments to my work out schedule to increase my total amount of movement without breaking myself in the process. My diet is pretty much on point and I can’t really go lower in calories safely or effectively. So all that leaves is movement. I’m basically adding more low intensity cardio options in between the more intense stuff. I’ve hit a plateau and the only way I’ll move forward from here is going all in…at least for a little while. My goal is 15% bodyfat (about 25lbs of fat) by summer. Here’s the schedule:
| Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Morning | 1 hour Bootcamp (Hiit/Resist) | 1 hour Bootcamp (Hiit/Resist) | PT/Strength | 1 hour Bootcamp (Hiit/Resist) | PT/Strength (weigh-in) | 1 hour Bootcamp (Hiit/Resist) | Walk 30 min (audiobook) |
| Noon (lunch break) | Hour+ hike (audio book) — or larp practice | Run 20-30 minutes | Walk 30 min (audiobook) | Run 20-30 minutes | Walk 30 min (audiobook) | Run 20-30 minutes | PT/Strength |
| Evening (after work) | Dance routine practice (30-60 min) | Dance routine practice (30-60 min) | 30 min follow up str, then Dance routine practice (30-60 min) | Dance routine practice (30-60 min) | 30 min follow up str, then Dance routine practice (30-60 min) | Dance routine practice (30-60 min) | 30 min follow up str, then Dance routine practice (30-60 min) |
12-18-20 Setbacks can be a good thing
I decided to copy/paste what I wrote on IG. Not that it really matters but going by my last post it seems like my fitness oriented posts tend to be more popular. At the end of the day I write here as a form of journaling for my own mental health. It is also part of my own artistic expression, as writing is the only thing I feel I’m any good it when it comes to art. There are many artists out there that no one will ever see. Part of the human condition I guess?
If something I write just happens to help someone else, then I’ll consider that a bonus.
I had a bit of a set back for today’s weigh in. Not a huge one true but I don’t want to take anymore steps back.
It reminded me of one of my all time favorite movies: Gattaca. I feel that I’ve never been able to achieve success without applying a disproportionate amount of effort to get there. This is why I always try so hard. I have to. I don’t have talent. My life has always been defined by endurance and grit.
I know when it comes to fitness, it isn’t about how hard I train in a single instance. Honestly, that’s a quick way to get injured. It’s always about that consistency. I used the export to csv function in fitbit to look at my calories out and could see my average out per week was down to about 2700 from 3000. I need to bring it back up. I haaaaaaaaaate running in winter but I’ve gotta bring that back in. I’m thinking 3 miles Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I might add a long hike on Sundays too (2 hours?) It’ll have to be in the morning, which will suck even more but it is necessary. Work has been absolutely draining so noon or evening runs aren’t reliable. I want to make this happen.
So that’s my #fitnessjourney post for the week. Off into the void.
11-13-20 focused on fitness
Not depressed today, but I am a little angry, or driven. I’m making progress towards getting to my body fat goal. I keep thinking about how I see posts trying to suggest overweight men are still attractive. I don’t believe in that. I’ve even seen a few muffin tops post in a group and get what I view are pity compliments. Meanwhile on the same group a guy in good shape will post and get swamped in attention.
I don’t want pity. I want recognition for my hard work. These next couple of months on a strict cutting and workout program are going to be tough. But I’m almost there. I don’t want pity. I fought my way into a stable career. This is the next step. I’m going to enter the 40s at my best.
9-22-2020 Get up
I had a bit of a talk with my wife last night regarding the challenges I’m having. I recently started reading through “The ADHD effect on Marriage”, which has been very on point for the experience. I understand the symptoms are a bit beyond her, but nonetheless I’m effected.
So today I was feeling it again just looking through social media. And an anger came over me, at myself. I’m tired of hating on myself. I am starting to look at the medication route after a message from my aunt (who is a psychiatrist) but in the mean time I’m doubling up on my fitness goal. And my competitiveness. I need that fire to burn away the darkness. The mixed blessing is that with no fair this year I don’t have those extra calories and reduced workout time to worry about. I’m committing to the idea of getting ripped by my 40th birthday. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold onto that status when I get there, but just to do it the one time will be enough. I need to be able to look at myself for once and not have those doubts.
I have a good trainer. I have a good diet plan with consistent tracking. I have enough tools at home to supplement the training I do. I can make this happen.
lionwolfbird 