Had brunch with NM. It’s funny, maybe it was just getting stuck in football game traffic, but about halfway there I was thinking, “man, I don’t really wanna do this.” When I got there I was feeling pretty cool, probably feeling wounded by the no-shows Saturday night. He was not nearly apologetic enough for my taste. I admit I slipped into a little passive-aggressiveness. And the man TALKS, let me tell you. It’s funny, I was totally into him for a few weeks, even up to a few days ago, but listening to him talk over brunch was downright painful. I appreciate a talker, but he just fills every moment, and I don’t have time to slip in if there does happen to be a break. Funny how I didn’t seem to mind at first.
Anyway, we walked around the neighborhood for a while after that, then as we were about to get into our respective cars he started: “I don’t want to seem like a total jerk…” (sidenote: it’s not jerky to be honest vis a vis a prospective relationship) so I said, “Go for it.” He continued “I don’t really see any longevity in this…” To which I agreed emphatically. I really, really had to pee or we could have chatted longer about how it wouldn’t work to drag it out any longer. But yeah, after brunch and after-brunch conversation, I was also pretty much done. As soon as he said it a light sort of went off in my head like “Bingo.”
This doesn’t mean that my subconscious didn’t process it like any other rejection. I got home completely exhausted and promptly fell into bed, which is what I do when I’m unable/unwilling to process something just yet. Ended up staying there the rest of the evening and through the night, then got up for work as normal this morning.
Here’s when it got crappy. Halfway through my commute I started to feel what I hadn’t let myself feel on Sunday afternoon. The combination of being stood up by my one friend and this guy on Saturday, plus the perceived rejection on Sunday, brought home all those feelings of unworthiness and abandonment that I probably should have seen coming but didn’t. I guess I thought since I’d done such a good job dealing with things on Saturday night, I was through. But no, here it came. I spent the first 2 hours at work sniffling and shedding tears, going back and forth between doing my regular Monday work routine and feeling completely worthless and unqualified to do my job, unloved and unlovable. In desperation I sent my therapist an e-mail about how hurt I felt about having been stood up by my friends on Saturday night. Not expecting any therapy back, I just couldn’t think of anyone else to share that with.
I ultimately asked my boss if I could leave at noon. I wasn’t crying anymore by that point, but I also wasn’t getting much work done. I came home, cried some, carved my pumpkins, cried some more, read another chapter of “The Untethered Soul,” lay down and talked to myself, closed my eyes for a bit. Then I got up and took a shower (my shoulders are sore from the sun salutations… chataranga kicks my ass), got dressed, made some coffee (I finally got around to getting myself a French Press), repotted some plants and here I am. Not feeling 100%, but not feeling awful.
One thing that came up when I was talking to myself was the memory of getting lost at the mall when I was 3. I wondered if my intense fear of abandonment/rejection stems from that occasion or others like it. It seems likely enough. Alone, helpless, surrounded by a bunch of adults I didn’t know (trying to find out who I belong to), trying to weigh the likelihood that I could make it home on foot if I tried (it was about a mile from the mall to our house). It’s pretty amazing to think that my intense reactions to rejection at age 30 could all stem from that one event 27 years ago. I’ll have to remember to see what Mom thinks about that, and hopefully remember to mention it to my therapist when I see her next month. Anyway, continuing to feel better as I type. Thankfully.