Giving In or Giving Up

 Giving In or Giving Up

How do I continue? Hopelessness abounds. Darkness still prevails. I don’t see a way out but instead just an end. To fall off into the void. To end the pain and suffering of so many years. To relieve myself of the constant struggle of survival. 

I’m not living. I’m barely existing. Slowly dying in my aloneness. Why would anyone in this world care if I don’t care about myself. Trauma brain tells me this but sometimes it seems I care too much about others and that’s what hurts me so. 

I don’t see a way in, a way around, a way out. Trapped in my misery, so close to crazy, parts in such disarray, out of control, so close to being psychotic, and ready to go to the end to find relief. 

Any possibility of help is now gone. Unable to accept any assistance, barely functioning. What now? No real answers. Just more pain and suffering. 

Depression is such an expert thief. Holding a very thin thread today. 

Alone. Isolated. Invisible. The paradise of my private hell.

4.17.25

Prickly

 I haven’t had much nice to say so I haven’t been here. Seems like it doesn’t matter as no one is out there anymore. Trying hard to find my way back to some reasonable sanity as it’s all slipping so far away. I have come to see how easy it could be to have a psychotic break when your parts have been in such disarray for so many weeks. It’s a slippery slope I’m on right now. Still holding on for life.

Is there anybody out there?

4.15.25 US tax day. First time in 60 years I didn’t have to file! 

Trust

 Trust

Trust. Where can I find some. My life seems to be filled with red flags and warning signs everywhere I go. That explains my shutdown but it doesn’t solve anything at all. It does make me aware of my lack of resources and options. I’m at zero and still trying to go backwards. So used to digging my own holes and filling them in. Hard to even trust myself these days.

So much awareness seems to have created much dysregulation and upset in my inner world. Feeling so lost. Protesting right out loud inside my head! 

Invisible, isolated, and alone with me myself and I 

4.2.25

Trying to Find My Way

 Trying to find my way

I’ve been very reflective and still lacking words to share here. That beacon I saw has come back shining, so I’m hopeful for guidance. I would describe my current’s status as LOST. After all that was taken away I’m now taking notice of what I might have left, what might still be here that I want and also what needs to still go. 

I am acutely aware that change is needed but the path is currently unknown. The only real question is not whether I can be helped but whether I will be able to accept the help. My ability to trust myself let alone another has been severely compromised. 

I’m here still trying. I have to try to give myself some grace for just that- trying- as some days it’s all I can do and it has to be enough. No need to beat myself up for this….easier said than done. 

3.27.25

Alone

Alone

Sharing someone else’s words today….this holds so much truth for me. 

People don't just become loners overnight - it happens gradually, after too many disappointments, too many broken promises, and too many times they've let their guard down only to regret it.

It starts with small letdowns, the kind you brush off because you want to believe the best in people. Then, one by one, the people. They once trusted to reveal their true colors.

The ones who swore loyalty disappear when things get hard. The ones who promised honesty turn their words into weapons. The ones who claimed to care only cared when it was convenient.

So they withdraw. They learn to enjoy their own company, to rely on themselves, to keep their world small and their peace intact.

They become the ones who observe more than they speak, who listen but rarely share, and who keep their circles tight and their walls higher than before.

It's not that they don't want connection - it's that they refuse to gamble with their trust anymore. Once someone has learned that solitude never betrays them, it becomes hard to convince them to let people in again.

Author unknown

3.21.25

For those walking through a storm in silence, holding back tears, and pretending to be okay while the world rushes past—you’re extraordinary. 

It’s not easy to keep showing up when you feel like falling apart, but every step forward, no matter how shaky, is a testament to the fire inside you. 

Trust that this strength will guide you through.

As long as I keep doing things for myself, I haven’t given up. 

March Madness

March Madness 

I’ve felt quiet and have been doing a lot of reflection. For me it feels like the calm after the storm, a calm I’ll gladly embrace while it’s here as that is so often elusive while feeling unsafe. There are still waves that rise and overwhelm but I’m better at riding it out now to find and arrive back to a place where I can still breathe color.

I’m fond of March Madness. It’s a title that’s been given to the NCAA basketball tournament that begins here in the US next week. Today is selection Sunday where all the teams are picked and seeded and bracketed. The higher seeds usually have a better chance but there’s always a “Cinderella” team, an underdog lower seed that plays well and advances deep. For the college basketball players this is their Super Bowl World Series, their chance to become national champions and to showcase their talent. 

For me, sports is a nice distraction. A place I can go for a couple hours and just enjoy the game, the athletes, the competition. I do have a few favorite teams in various sports but I most often just hope for a good game. March Madness tournament rarely disappoints for good games and I assume this year will be no different.

I will utilize my viewing to help tame my own madness, to continue to help myself recover and restore some light back into my life where it has been so dark these past few months. Does it hurt less, no. I've just accepted the added burden, the additional pain, continuing to discover and understand all that has been affected. 

I am trying. Trying to look at this as a new beginning. How could it not be as I’m at a new place, with newly added painful and open wounds to figure out and tend to. Starting over. It’s not exactly what I had in mind but there’s no denying it’s where I am at. 

Begin again. Let’s hope I have the strength. Just finding hope is a start. I’d much rather have solutions over awareness but they are usually a package deal. 

Double I isolated and invisible, me, myself, and I 

3.16.25

"They say beauty comes from a

spirit that has weathered many

hardships in life and somehow

continues with resilience.

Grace can be found in a soul 

who ages softly, even amid 

the tempest.

I think the loveliest by far is the one 

whose gentle heart bears a hundred scars 

from caring, yet still finds a way to pick up 

the lamp, one more time, to light the way 

for love."

 Susan Frybort

Still

Still 

Still a lot of feelings swirling. The sadness and grief of loss, the fear and uncertainty of what’s next. Trying to renew some hope of the ability to find change within myself to create a life worth living.

Isn’t that mostly the goal for any of us? We all have different ideas of what that entails and what it might look like to achieve. To find myself here at my age, I’m not sure what to make of that honestly. I wonder about so many things along the way, questioning the depths of my soul to reflect on how I got right here right now.

I struggled with insomnia last night. It’s not a regular occurrence for me so I know my brain is on overdrive when it happens. 1:07, 3:13, 4:44, 6:01. All the times I noticed the clock as I lay in bed searching for what really was going on. Sleep was pretty elusive; too many thoughts. I suppose I could call it rumination but on many things, not just one.

I have been limiting my social media time to maybe an hour a day. That change has been so good for me, I haven’t missed all the garbage that is found there these days one iota. It’s been a surprisingly easy habit for me to change. I’m still online but in a much healthier way reading and learning and listening to whatever strikes a chord. 

I saw this somewhere while trying to read myself back to sleep. It seemed so appropriate for me and much appreciated. I am grieving and it’s very painful to go through such a difficult and unexpected experience. I have been trying so hard for myself. To find some joy. To enjoy. To not be hurt. The truth is life can kick back and knock you down. It’s all about getting up. 

I’m not quite there yet but I’m working on it. I’m starting to find some space to keep breathing; to see beyond. It’s hard. To find hope and to keep hoping. To still see color even when it’s dark. To look towards the light and find a way; to know you can still get there. 

Alone still- yes I am. But I’m pretty sure there’s a beacon with my name on it and I hope to find it soon. Keep on shining please. I know you’re out there.

Me, myself, and I, living the double I life: isolated and invisible. 

How is your world treating you????

3.11.25

29 Days

29 days 

It’s Friday March 7th, twenty nine days since I received the news of my abandonment by my therapist of 3 years. Everyday I’ve battled my demons, my depression, that deep dark hole where I’m so very alone. This has been an extremely challenging episode in so many different ways. I’ve went to places I’ve not ever been, so deep and dark that even though I have a somewhat comfortability in my familiar darkness, this time was not so familiar at all. Scaring myself at the levels I succeeded to drop into, the self destroying thoughts that permeated my brain. 

I am sure much of that fall was because I’ve been so alone with this journey. Not my choice but it is what I have available at this time. Trust is so elusive, so fearful of another disappointing and painful outcome. Me, myself, and I trying our best everyday with that best falling on some wide scales of how it shows up. 

Last night after twenty nine days I am finally able to breathe, to see some light from the deep dark hole that I fell into once again. A reprieve, a shift, a digging out of sorts, that has allowed me some space to find a few glimmers of color back in my world. Instead of blankly staring, a smile at a joke heard on TV. Instead of annoyed, feeling comforted by the sweet soft purr of one my kitties resting on my lap. Actually noticing and finding delight in the antics of the humming birds at my feeders outside.  Enjoying listening to music instead of feeling the sadness of it. Welcoming the transposition of my thought processing: that black cloud that causes so much chaos is dissipating into light shades of grey with some clearing for now. 

Today I will just take it slow and easy and try to relish some of that color and those glimmers, those small but important sparks that have been so absent and lost, impossible to find all these weeks. Crushed by the enormity of it all, pushed back into the deep dark pit to live in depression, my good friend Lola. 

Sometimes I worry that I just keep going back because it’s familiar, sadly comfortable because of how intimately I know her. But the reality is she really only keeps me stuck in the pain and hopelessness of despair with her promising lies of destructive solutions. It’s hard not to want to believe as she’s shifts into her own treacherous mirage of beauty. Worthless, the temptress, never far away, the leader of the gang, of the group I call my death squad. 

For today it is quieter, much more calm and peaceful. It seems a small path has been cleared from the crushing weight of it all, uncovering things bit by bit, hoping I’ve made my walls stable enough to stop the dirt from falling back in, to keep searching for the light that’s out there for me. I don’t want to keep living in the dark.

I know there is still much happening for me, in me, with me. I will continue to sit with it when I can and to let it rest when I need. I will hope that I find help, true genuine help for all these parts that have been so deeply wounded again. Another challenge of my resolve to help myself. 

It’s easy to give up but the only road I’ve traveled in all my years is the hard fucking way. Why would it be any different now?

I know that this new wound, this loss, this great pain of betrayal and abandonment will take more work. That there will be days that waves of grief still come and overwhelm me. This lesson is a hard one that I shouldn’t have had to take on but it’s here and like everything else, all I can do is give it the best I have offer. I know I will need help with it all if I am to find lasting success with change

I’ll shed many more tears because this one is deep with so much attached that needs to be processed. Losing someone so important in my life, the safety of their trust and support, is going to take time to understand and accept. But I’ll take those tears as long as they can still have some color. I am still here! 

Double I. Me, myself, and I. Alone. Sad. A little lighter. Thanks Self. 

3.7.25

“I helped myself.

I put balm on the wounds. 

I put bandaids where my heart still hurt.

I took my time.

I read books that soothed my soul,

listened to music that calmed my nerves,

watched movies that made me smile.

Step by step. Piece by piece.

I pulled myself together and gave myself

a second chance.

Because I knew that if I didn’t do it, 

no one would.”

Ruby Dhal

Finding Space to Breathe

Finding Space to Breathe

Life has been so heavy for me so far in 2025. This past couple weeks has challenged me like I haven’t felt in many years. It’s difficult to keep fighting when you only have yourself to count on. Struggling but here I am writing it out. 

The last week I did some things that scared me, things I’d not really considered doing before. Making a list of people to call if I’m found dead and a few other details in that realm regarding my pets and possessions. I believe it’s considered part of making your plan. It surprised me somewhat that I got to those thoughts but it shouldn’t have since it’s been so very dark in my world. A true low for me.

I always am continually looking for harm reduction type things I can put in place for myself as I know I’m at risk. Options is one of my favorite words because for me, running out of those options will be when I die. The biggest promise I have between me, myself, and I, is I don’t make permanent decisions when I’m in my low depressive, black and white thinking, hopelessness and despair or any other cognitive distortions. So far I’ve not broken that promise. Not going to lie, I came close this week.

Warm lines. If you don’t what they are and you have depression with suicidal ideation you should have the numbers in your area handy. Why? Unlike the national suicide hotline, warm lines are run by peers and they don’t track your number and turn you in. It’s just someone on the other end to connect with, to talk, to bring yourself back, to stay. You don’t need to be in full crisis to call warm lines. You can call just to talk with someone. Some have an hour time limit but many will talk with you as long as you need.

I found myself in a panic. I knew I needed help getting out of it so I called. I talked. I found some space and was able to breathe a little bit more. It suck’s to not have any options to call someone I know. I just don’t have any support like that in my life any longer. All those type of friends are gone now, sadly have passed away. No family in my picture. Currently having no therapist has made any emotional support back to zero. 

I don’t know what my fate is right now. I am doing my best. Some days I just take minute by minute. Suicide for me is not about wanting to die, but simply not wanting to live this joyless life I’m in. They are separate parts in my system as they are two different things. I’m so aware of the workings that make up these parts of my system. There’s an entire gang I call the death squad.

Awareness is one thing. I do appreciate being aware of all the different parts that make up “me”. But I haven’t made much progress with change. The disappointment and hurt from being so close to some actual help, confronting these shadows of mine and having a plan that all disappeared when I was abandoned by my therapist. It’s hard to find the proper words to explain how many ways that has affected me. I’m still discovering the enormity of it all.

It’s so discouraging to think about starting all over again. Can I do it? Will I do it? How will I do it? Trust is locked away pretty tightly. So many unanswered questions to ponder. My brain is still searching but unsure if I can find solutions. I do realize help is needed. I’m going to search for a bit of hope with finding that help. At least I can breathe a bit more and I’m still here fighting for that breath. 

Double I. Still alone. Struggling. Me. Myself. I

Can I just say fuck. It seems appropriate.

3.4.25

The Big Darkness

The Big Darkness 

It’s as dark as it’s ever been in my world right now. Depression just sucks everything out of me and circumstance doesn’t help. I’m not sure how to help myself. Things are shifting and that can be scary. Of course I have lots of tools but they can only work to a point as this thing called depression can be so alluring and deceiving. So I come here to write, to get my words out because I don’t know what else to do.

Deep sadness and despair overcomes me right at this very minute as I’m writing. I feel so lost and can’t find any scrap of hope today to keep up this fight. I’m used to sitting with pain of all types but this time is different. Letting yourself experience what’s happening is supposed allow it to flow in and then out, like a river. Problem for me is things flow in but then swirl around like a whirlpool with a vortex that sucks it all in and holds it tightly underneath, trapping it all within. 

All the voices in my head, these thoughts and feelings of worthlessness and despair are suffocating me, slowly building up enough to crush my entire being. The past few days I been feeling defeated like no other time. Knowing I am totally alone right now has such polarizing effects on my mind. Getting so tired of the fight, the push and pull, like a tug-a-war that never ends. Will that thread that never seems to break keep holding me or will one side claim victory? I have not seen Ted and Teddi for awhile (my thread parts). IYKYK. 

I have doubts that things will change, that I can find some reason that makes me want to stay here. When this first went down I promised myself that this would not be what defeats and buries me. That’s not a promise I can keep right now. This is different. Being alone with no support I just never know. Minute to minute I’m trying my best to stay, to give myself a chance, but how many days can I sit in the shit and not drown? It’s already so hard to breathe. 

These battles in this darkness never seem to give me any relief. I know I need help but where will I find it? I do not know if I’m even capable of allowing anyone to help me again. The ability to explain what’s going on has been severely hampered by betrayal of my trust that is so hard for me to give. Will I have be so desperate that I won’t reach out until I get to the crisis intervention stage? Will I even ask for help then or will I succumb to all the voices in my head?

The pull of wanting this all to end is strong. My life is a fucking disaster and I don’t want to live this anymore. I didn’t want to wake up today but here I am. Still trying. Depression: like a never ending pile of dirty dishes. 

Where do I go? 

What do I do?

Depression….

Fuck you!

More thoughts in poems: 

Depression

Like lead bullets poisoning my bloodstream

Going to the center of my brain

Corroding my mind vault

Letting loose these feelings I trapped away for so long

These thoughts slowly enveloping me

Until there’s nothing left

No me

Just this beast I call depression.

End.

Every day is a challenge for me right now. People don’t understand and most just look away, not really wanting to notice or be bothered by those that might be suffering. I can’t predict what will happen. Right now it’s just all so empty and dark. I’m below my basement today. It’s all just too much sometimes. Why do you think I take drugs. At least they give me some relief, an escape, albeit temporary. It’s better than none at all. 

Consumed by darkness

All fades to black

Light you can’t harness

The passion you lack

The soul that once burned

Now freezes in vain

The answers once yearned

Now provided by pain.

End.

Is there any hope out there to be had? I can use some help finding some. Mine is lost. The vortex. Temptress. Numb Helga please take me away.  

Double I. Alone. 

3.2.25 

Skullduggery

Skullduggery 

Pinball was all the rage in my teens and 20s and it was something I really enjoyed. I was pretty good at it back in my day and one of my favorite machines was called Skullduggery. It had lots of fun sounds and voices and challenges. I also just liked the word skullduggery.

According to Miriam Webster dictionary, skullduggery means underhanded or unscrupulous behavior. It’s interesting but understandable that this word is coming up for me now. How can I not question everything that happened this past 3 years? How will I ever know if anything was what I thought it was when all I get is silence? 

The past three weeks has been really like no other. When your world becomes small like mine has, the losses become massive. This has been so unexpected and has affected me like nothing else I have gone through. It’s been very debilitating and discouraging as I don’t know how I will ever find my way back to any light. 

I been mostly in bed because I don’t what else to do, where else to go. My brain needs some relief from the constant voices, the unknown, being ghosted and truly abandoned with such a lack of care or concern. It’s difficult to be left wondering about so many things with the biggest question- was any of it real? Was I just another player piece of the game of life you crafted for yourself, to feed your ego and your family, without regard for the consequences that I now get to pay? Did you ever care about me? This feels nothing like caring but maybe I don’t know what that is anymore either! 

I’m very fucked up over this. It’s rocked my world in ways I’m just beginning to realize. It’s so confusing and overwhelming. I am questioning everything. I feel so stupid- how could I be so foolish to believe? How will I ever make sense when I get nothing to make sense of but sitting here alone with the pain of what was taken from me? Why would I ever want to put myself through any of this again when my results have only hurt me? I don’t know how to help myself but it’s a conundrum to even want to trust anyone again. I can’t even trust myself. How do I move forward?

I don’t have answers and I don’t know where I’m going to find any. The encyclopedia in my brain has been altered to such a degree that it’s no longer a place of truths. It’s kind of like Wikipedia; started out with good info but now diluted by others. Just a bunch of bullshit that doesn’t make sense any more. Is anyone out there with any kind of words for me today?  

I have always had a strong survival part but she’s tired. She wonders why are we continuing the fight. I never find answers. It just seems I continue to collect pain and hurt along my path. How can I not think this is my message, that pain is my destiny and what I deserve. I have tried so hard to help myself but when I’ve asked others what have I gotten? More fucking pain.

People suck in my world but I don’t want to live alone. Why get up everyday just to struggle? I feel like such a misfit in this world. Quazar is my part that never feels like we have ever fit in anywhere in this life. How could I? I’m always different than everyone else. Those differences are never celebrated but instead hidden in my attempt to belong. 

I have been told that I deserve good things just because I exist. I don’t believe that for one minute. There is nothing in this world we don’t have to earn- in some way we pay for everything. All the focus on self- care and boundaries are great but they should never be at the expense of others. Intention has so much to do with it. Are you self preserving or self centered? 

How will I find my way even if it’s just to something different? I have no clue. It’s not good being me right now. Simply existing day to day is not any kind of life I want to sustain. Joy has been absent for so long now. Hope is fleeting. Self compassion is non existent. I’m not sure how much longer my Soul Survivor will keep sustaining me on my journey. Do I even care anymore? If I don’t, does any of this really matter? 

Is there anyone out there? Today, a nod would do. When I reach out, no one reaches back. Alone. Me, myself, and I. Can Helga come out to play? Take me away from my reality. I’ve had enough for today

Double I

2.28.25

Quazar 

Exhausted

Exhausted

Today I have a new understanding of the definition of exhaustion. My energy is so low it’s almost nonexistent. My dysautonomia episodes take a lot out of me but today is a whole new level. 

I’ve had chronic pain issues for 20 years. Both knees and one hip have been replaced with the other hip due soon. My back is a mess with multiple levels of discs and stenosis. My hands and shoulders have issues. I haven’t been able to walk unassisted for 5 years now. Having so much osteoarthritis for so long has given me the ability to manage much pain daily. It wasn’t really a choice so I put the work in to make life as comfortable as possible. 

So many people have the wrong idea about mind body connection and pain. It’s easy to say it’s all in your head which is true but that doesn’t mean your pain isn’t real. There are still physical reasons for the pain- they aren’t made up or all in your mind- but can control how you are translating those pain signals. Pain signal manager. It’s something I’ve become very good at.

The biggest issue for me is not as much about managing my pain anymore but managing my energy as pain runs on a large band width. As I get older the amount of energy I start with decreases, causing that ripple effect, forcing choices that aren’t always optimal. I have had to realize the value of rest and become aware of my changing needs. 

The pain of the last few weeks has come from my body, my mind, and deep into my soul. Such a sharp wound, so unexpected, still so open and raw. Bleeding tears, wailing from my depths, waves of shocks, lost and confused. It has taken so much. 

Today is extra hard. Every cell in me is tired. I won’t be getting out of bed unless necessary. I won’t be brushing my hair or teeth or changing out of my PJs. I hope I can get enough nutrition and drink enough water. I have no idea how I will sustain and recover. The problem with depression is it lets very little motivation in. It’s getting harder and harder to pick myself up everyday. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. Things pile up. 

That’s the scariest thought. I’ve only ever really had myself. What happens when my body gives up or my mind quits? There is nobody else coming for me….

So many questions. No energy to find answers. Not sure there are any….

Double I: Isolated and Invisible

Alone in the dark

2.26.25

Nuggets of My Truths

Nuggets of My Truths 

Clicking on the pictures makes them clear to read

Trauma Brain. Depression Brain. Full on Brain Train

2.24.25

Stalled

Stalled

 Grief and pain from loss don’t really go well with depression. It’s hard to see beyond this darkness, to loosen the grip of those feelings of hurt and betrayal. Wondering how I can stay breathing let alone find a way out, but instead of a way out of this deep hole, the dirt is being kicked back on top, slowly smothering me, burying me alive. So much has been lost, stripped away without concern for any consequences that have been bestowed upon me. 

It’s still so hard to understand. Ghosted. The silence seems so unconscionable, making it all seem unreal. The tears still coming in uncontrollable waves, unable to find comfort for myself. Isolated and invisible, how I or any of my parts don’t really matter. How life has proved to me over and over that my choices only bring pain and hurt. Worthless. Undeserving of anything good. Sentenced to suffering. 

I try to keep fighting but where has that got me? Right back to the bottom of it all…back to being alone with myself, crying in the dark. A place I have so come to despise, a place of self torture and self sabotage. The people I allow into my life just add to my burdens, my pain. 

How will I ever trust anyone ever again, myself, my Self, included. What you have taken from me. What I allowed to be taken from me. I can’t go back. I can’t seem to find any way forward. I’m broken down and stalled on a path that at one time seemed so full of hope but now no longer even exists. Lost in it, wondering if it was all bullshit or if anything was real. Actions always reveal the truth when your words have disappointed with deceit. Come closer, trust me said the spider to the fly. 

Not much left as my reality has started to set in. Violated in so many ways. Still shocked by the betrayal. More stunned by the silence. Was I used, just an interesting subject to probe, to play with my emotions and alter my life with yet another abandonment? I didn’t deserve this but it’s what I got. It’s what I always end up with. Fucked and left alone. 

This has absolutely totally crushed and destroyed me and I don’t know how I can even begin to recover. I know I need help but can I really ask for it let alone accept it? How can I ever trust another therapist when this one hurt so deep? How will I be able to even consider when I can’t even trust my own ability to do good for myself? The only outcome I ever get is more struggle and pain. Is my message I’m too much and just can’t be helped as that is all I can hear. 

What did I do wrong again? Why keep trying? More tears. Time doesn’t heal. It just keeps torturing me. I’ve been so distraught I find it hard to get out of bed now. Self care is almost non existent with only the bare minimum being accomplished. I don’t know how much lower I can go. One day they will win. I’m trying to stay kind but it hurts so much. So tired. No relief in sight. 

If I don’t care does any of this matter….

Double I

2.24.25

Invisible and Isolated

 Not Noticed or Acknowledged: Invisible

 It’s been two weeks filled with many lows and lots of unknowns. I’m still trying to recover from the shock of it all, so much unexpected, that I’m just now starting to take notice of how much is really involved. Just being aware of how big my feelings are, gave me a clue into how widespread and massive this wound is. So all encompassing when you give your total trust to someone and it’s betrayed in ways you’d never imagine. Devastated to the point of being frozen, unable to make sense of it all. Of course, no answers just silence, which is incredibly confusing itself. 

This has been my first week of choosing to live the double I life. It’s so easy to do in these times. So many people walking around in their own world, never noticing what’s happening around them, oblivious to anything other than their own current reality. Hundreds of people in a store yet no one acknowledges any other. The scripted “did you find everything OK and thanks for shopping with us” during check out are the only words exchanged during my outing. After I leave, no one really knows or cares that I was here. Imagine how many of us invisible people have the same every day. 

I realized that as long as I pay my bills, retrieve my mail from my mail box, and keep my yard tidy, no one will notice me in any other way. No one calls me, messages me, or emails me. I’m off social for the most part as the daily news from DC is too full of hate. I have no commitments or appointments to get to, no real schedule to follow. Not one person will take note or be affected by my invisibility; my withdrawal from socializing. 

This speaks to my aloneness. People always question me in disbelief when I say I have no one. A few years ago I was at some workshop and the exercise we were being asked to do was to make two lists. One with the names of all the people you love and the other of the people who love you. It was difficult to look at my paper as there was very little on it. 

Most of my people on both my lists are deceased. And the few that are living have limited space for me in their life. In other words, conditions must be accepted. This speaks to all the different kinds of love but also shows me what I am and am not willing to accept from and about others.

At my age where do I find a friend let alone any kind of love? I don’t work, I don’t belong to clubs, I don’t go out. Connection sucks for me and being let down by the one person I trusted has made a case in my brain for this double I life: to quit trying and just retreat. I try so hard to connect but my internal bullshit meter Bodine must be delusional as how do we not see it coming. How do I allow myself to keep getting fucked up by others? 

I only have myself. No other support currently available. That’s not enough and I know it but I don’t see another way. I’m so tired. Will I fall and not get up? The tears are still falling. To believe someone really cared. Actions speak louder than words.  It hurts to be abandoned. I might as well just keep hiding in plain sight. I have to find some fucks to give. Right now that’s an empty bucket. It’s hard enough to reach out but rarely is anyone out there willing to reach in. When they do, they just make me bleed. Closing those Castle doors. 

It’s easy to be a double I…

NOT caring about each other has sadly been normalized. People just don’t fucking care. Truth! 

2.21.25

Kindness Matter

Kindness Matters

^ Click on pic to read ^

Do your best to come from a place of kindness. Be aware of the influences you have and do no harm. 

Trying to make sense of why…..

Living the Double I Life; Isolated and Invisible

2.19.25

Invisible

Invisible

 I wonder how many of us are living invisibly in plain sight. It’s so easy to do in this day and age as no one notices, no one cares much about anything around them. Everyone existing in their own reality oblivious to others.

For the past 45 years I’ve lived in a city of 6 million plus. I’ve been in my home for 39 years. My lawn and garden used to be such pride and joy but that has all disappeared. First my schedule and now my health has changed all that. Now all that people see is things looking old and disheveled, seemingly uncared for. No one has any thoughts of asking why or if they can help, but instead just laugh and call names, a crazy old cat lady. Looking away, looking aside, unnoticing of what may be truly happening, or that help might needed. Name less and face less, just living in a house on a street in a big city. The definition of neighbor is unknown. 

I’m giving in, trying to find a way. A new way. A different way. Any way. Any place. A reprieve from my current state of reality. Connection feels like angry, bubbling lava with no escape from the burn. I have no translation for communication; all words coming and going seem foreign, unable to understand or be understood. What I thought was a true path disintegrated into dust and was swept away like it never existed, like I was non existent. I’m so tired of the struggles, being let down and hurt with no real place to rest, nothing, no one seems to help. Beating myself up because I can’t seem to help myself, to love my Self. Unable and unwilling to trust. Unsure whether I’m lost, blind, broken or just done.

Pain surrounds me. I feel unsafe in my own skin almost every minute of every day. Everything, every place, everyone is just a reminder of my inability and failure to exist in this world I find so cruel. I’ve never found a place to fit, to allow me as I am. They talk of finding your tribe but I must be on the wrong planet or in an alternate reality. There are no others on my path. It is mine alone. I’ve tried so hard. I’m tired. Wishing it was all an illusion or even a delusion. 

I’m done trying for now. I am done searching. Reaching out has not been successful. I have very little left in my tank. My heart is not whole but instead full of holes, unhealed and bleeding. Defeated and discouraged, I am retreating, becoming one of the invisibles, fading into the surroundings, hidden away in plain slight. Broken and forgotten after giving every ounce I’ve ever had to everyone else. Kicked again and again while down. My wounds are large and raw; unseen and misunderstood. 

Hope is elusive. I used to have some holders of hope but are any still out there? That thought brings the most sadness. Healing is fleeting. An unsolved mystery. It takes so much to stay, to be here solo, but it’s all I’ve got. The uncertainty of it all for me right now is less scary than the exhaustion of the struggle. Will the knock out be next? Low on options. Running out of resources. 

Maybe I can locate some rest. Not sure where. No plan. Alone with my thoughts. Friends or foes? No one gets it. No one hears. Darkest side of the moon. My dear Lola, my depression. Who else is appearing? I will just shut them all out but they always come back. Fuck. 

Look around and if you want 

you will see 

all the invisible people

just as me. 

Alone seems my only choice. Living life in silence. Preparation. I often wonder: Is it quiet when you die? 

2.17.25

 

Recovery

Recovery

It’s been a truly challenging February in every way I can possibly think of. So many unexpected twists and turns. All those shattered pieces and parts staring at me and I realize I need to take a step back so I don’t get cut any deeper  and cause any additional uproar in my system, an ugly bleeding riot. 

Each day that passes brings awareness of how much this has changed for me; so much no longer there or unable to trust the validity of what I do find. So many questions with no answers moving forward. My dear Cog - who, what, when, where, how? Oh these parts of mine.  

I’m thankful and proud of myself for reviving and creating the habit of writing on this blog again. Yes I’m old but not as fluffy. Yes it’s more of a personal journal with thoughts and opinions but being honest with myself I use it to call myself out on things. To put things online where anyone can see has a certain power.  I like to say you use what you got. For me this blog is something I’ve got, something that’s mine. You learn to be creative when you only have yourself. 

I still have other journals I keep of course. Sharing all your deepest darkest things with anyone takes time. I am feeling the need to retreat, to focus on my grief and loss in a different way. I’m going to call it a cocoon. This image below represents so well what I feel, the pull of isolation, what my parts are needing. 

I will be honoring my need for cocooning. I will make certain I’m not making this a self prison as I often can revert to. This is not that but instead a time for rest and reflection in order to move forward. Safety is so elusive for me. That’s rarely understood or honored by others. 

 I’m not OK, but I’m managing . I’ll be back. Could be sooner. Could be later. Just not sure. 

 Me, myself, and I.

 A solo journey in the dark. When I reach out no one is there. 

 Valentines Day. The day of love. Devoid. 

2.14.25