Skip to main content

The long lost fantastical relationships

  For as long as I can remember, I used to make up stories in my head. As I got older, most of them revolved around a romance, something I didn't have. I would create detailed stories of romantic trips to far off places; happenstance meetings of a famous musician and how they would fall in love with me; being chosen to be in a Oscar-winning movie and make the main actor fall head over heels. In fact, sometimes, I would imagine how it would be around my friends and family and such. I honestly think I used this crutch to be okay with not dating till I was much older.
  When I got into my first relationship, I realized the fantasy relationships stopped. But then I realized they didn't stop they morphed. I could try to defend him and excuse him from the tears and the pain and the hurt heart, but I won't. While in the midst of those things, my mind would build imaginary stories of a perfect relationship with him. Ones in which he spent time with me; ones where he cherished our time; ones where he would laugh and hold me and tell me things I longed to hear. He didn't. I left. My mind was too tired to create anything.
  When I got into my second relationship, I was too caught up to see that my survival mode was turned on. I was always trying to force someone to be okay with my relationship. It would be a while before I noticed the subtle hints of someone who was seeking elsewhere. The stories became those of complete attention toward me. I was not fighting his social (fake) life for a look or a gesture. The nice things that he did towards me and for me were (in my mind) because of love and not obligation. He cheated. I left. My mind was destroyed.
  When the third came back into my life, my mind went wild. Anything and everything I could imagine and hope for was playing over and over in my head. A fantastic life of pleasure and security was what I mentally wove together. It was beautiful. And I held it tight so no one could see. I remember a few short times when he would help me weave those stories that I would give glimpses to those who would cherish them with me. The fantasy life I built for me and him was one of epic proportions. What I didn't know was that he was building on sand. He tore them down. I left. My heart was so bruised.
  Then he came along, and the stories stopped. I thought perhaps my heart and mind were too hurt to make up stories that would never come true. But all there was...was silence. I realized with him I couldn't find anything to fix. I couldn't make up a fantastical relationship that was better than the reality I was living. It was a first. It was a shock. And for the last year, I look back and realize that I have been living the fantastical relationship that I always wanted. While in the midst of the pain from a broken fantasy, my mother once said, "If it hurts this bad, it's not worth having." J and I have had our moments. Some that had me ready to hang my head and kiss him goodbye. But I was used to leaving relationships that held a partner who didn't want to make it work. This one won't let the tapestry we have created together unwind. I am blessed, and my fantasy has finally become a reality.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Beneath the Weeping Willow

  "The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows—a wall against the wind. This is the willow's purpose." —  Frank Herbert, Dune   Time, although a very evasive concept, is in each moment a gift. And most often, I don't stop to look back at the road I have traveled on. Even more so, the road Justin and I have travelled together. But today it is warranted. Today marks 9 years as husband and wife, and 9 years of truly some amazing and adverse moments. We have lost the most cherished and birthed the most loved all the while interwoven with each other.    I will be the first to admit that our day to day appears to some: mundane. However, inside the ordinary he and I together have understood the profundity of love. It is brash and loud, but it is also cautious and quiet.  "Love is a many splendored thing."  It is the true basis of community, and I am proud of the community we have built.   The  willow  is the t...

A human mirror

  I look at myself, a lot. I think it has something to do with the fact that I didn't think myself attractive for a long time. Now, I can look at myself even when someone else is in the bathroom. Before, I entered with head bowed and left the same. There are times when I look at myself 3 times before I leave. Most of the time, I focus on one aspect of myself: my eyes, my hair, my waist line, my clothes...something. I can see how this seems egotistical, but perhaps I am making up for lost mirror time.   However, I can only remember one time that I actually looked into the mirror to see something deeper than my outward appearance. And it scared me. I honestly didn't think it was possible to look into the mirror and truly see oneself. It always seemed so cliché. Until I did it.   That was 4 months ago. The moment I decided to walk away from a "relationship" that was nothing more than a confusing drag. It held me bound and clipped the wings I knew God had given me to f...

It's the underlying peace...

For some reason, dating my first boyfriend was hard. I was 21; he was 18. We were together for maybe 2 months. I am even reluctant to call him my boyfriend. Classic story of he wanted me; I was bored...voila. And not too long before I broke it off, I found myself in the sacristy talking to my then pastor. I was confused and hurt. I honestly can't even remember why. But he changed me that day.   He told me this: when he was discerning the priesthood two weeks prior to ordination, he struggled. He struggled so much he was beginning to believe his choice of vocation was wrong. His spiritual director at the time told him to pray. He told him to spend one solid week praying as though he was going to leave formation. Leaning all prayer toward that thought. Then, he told him to pray the next solid week as though he was going to stay and become the priest that he believed, at one point, he was supposed to be.   And as he prayed, he struggled. His mind wanted to wander and his desire...