Fractured

I feel fractured.  The website www.freedictionary.com defines fractured as "The condition of having been broken or ruptured."  Yes, that is how I feel.  

Last month I thought the feeling was caused by the full moon phase of my astrological year.  In other words, the period ruled by the astrological sign that is the exact opposite of mine.  As a Scorpio, the Taurus period of April 20th through May 20th is my opposite sign, a time that can be challenging, resulting in upheaval, change, discord, and dissatisfaction.  Even before knowing anything about astrology, I noticed that the April/May time of year was often hard for me.  Astrology helped me to understand why.  When this feeling of being fractured began in late April, I blamed the sign of Taurus and just waited patiently to enter the time of Gemini.  But, Gemini has passed and I am feeling the same.  

Back problems have plagued me for more than two months.  Stabbing pain results from routine movements.  Multiple chiropractor and massage therapist appointments have helped, but the pain, though less, persists.  Even turning over in my sleep can cause an excruciating pain that wakes me up gasping to breathe.  I can no longer scratch my back, stretch deeply or practice many yoga poses.  Even getting dressed or simply reaching to turn off a light can be painful.  

Moodiness and intolerance abound all around me.  I feel as though I am walking through a field of land mines.  Emotional tension and physical pain leave me exhausted, confused and sad.  After a rough winter, I was feeling better for a few weeks, but now I am in this stressful situation with no understanding of why.  Even meditation has left me with a profound and deep sadness.  Although my man and I have plans to be in Mount Dora for several days later this summer, I feel completely disconnected from my favorite town.  I used to have very real visualizations of Mount Dora that included sounds, feelings and smells.  Now when I conjure up an image of Mount Dora, it appears flat and lifeless like a photograph.  

Even writing this feels strained.  I thought about shutting down my Manifesting Mount Dora project, but I am holding on a little longer.  I started this post a few days ago and am feeling a little better now.  The Supreme Court decision on DOMA helped me feel as if some progress is being made - perhaps not in my personal life, but for Americans as a whole - although other Supreme Court decisions this session have been frustrating and backward-moving.  The United States Congress and the State of Florida  seem to be either not moving at all or consistently moving in reverse.  As a people, Americans fight for justice and human rights and then we discover our own government is acting contrary to our deepest beliefs.  So much feels fractured.  

I also feel restless, like I am supposed to be doing something other than what I am doing and I don't know what that is.  I search for signs and hints, but either there are none or I am failing to recognize them.  So, I just go through each day doing what I always do and being grateful for my family, for the smiles and hugs and love from my grandchildren, for quiet time with my man, for my pets and my friends, for my home and neighborhood, for the  work that keeps me busy and pays the bills, and for music and books.   

Get Closer

My man and I recently had a week's vacation, which included the Memorial Day Holiday, in New Jersey and New York City.  We normally take this trip only in the fall, but decided to make an additional springtime trip this year.  As usual, we stayed with his loving mother in New Jersey and took the train each day (that weather would allow and we did have some nasty weather while we were there) into Manhattan.  In spite of weather challenges, we had a good time and a wonderful visit with his 92-year-old mother.  As we were leaving on the train from Newark Penn Station, he called his mother to let her know we were on our way and she said, in Spanish, "Always remember to get closer".

I know her advice was targeted to us as a couple, and it was good advice.  Most relationships, be they romantic or family or friendships or business contacts, grow cold when we fail to make the effort to be close and to get closer.  We become complacent; we get busy; we lose focus.  We think we won't change; he or she won't change; life will continue to chug along.  And it does.  Chug along like an old train.  But, without attention and maintenance, those relationships slow down just like an old train.  Then, one day, the train just stops running.  Admittedly, in the great stories of our lives, not all relationships are supposed to continue.  Some last for a season or only for some reason.  We need to know when to shake the dust off our shoes and move forward.  And, we need to know when to buckle down and do the work it takes to revive a sick relationship that begs for new life.  Knowing when to let go and when to hold on is tough.  Sometimes we hold on too long, as I believe I did in my marriage, and sometimes we let go too soon.  Perhaps the choice depends on what, if anything, we are still gaining from a relationship and what we think we may lose should it end.  Will life be better with or without it?  Are we happier now, with it, or will we be happier in the future, without it?  Do we feel restrained, unsupported, unappreciated?  Is there still an avenue of communication open?  How much work are we willing to put into the revival process?  Sometimes, I believe we are just tired and think starting over would be more exciting and maybe even easier.  And, that is often true.  So much to consider and to weigh.  Never an easy decision.  So, her advice to get closer has to be a reminder that relationships are a work-in-progress and the work needs to be done little by little, every day, or the task becomes too great, the work too hard, and we are run from the effort needed.

Even though I am sure her advice was aimed at us as a couple, I have thought about it in other ways, too.  Today, I applied the "get closer" to spiritual awakening.  I thought of how our lives should be aimed at getting closer to our spirit, or our soul, or God, or whatever you choose to call that which is larger than ourselves.  Some of us were raised with a strong spiritual or religious background and we chose to continue on the path that our parents started for us.  Others of us chose to leave that path and allowed life to take us in other directions.  Some may, as I did, leave the spiritual path entirely for a period.  And, some may never return to it.  Others find their way back to spirituality in one form or another, often in a form much different than the one learned in childhood.

I was raised Catholic, became agnostic for several years, and then, due to the influence of my husband, ended up in the Southern Baptist faith for a few years.  Many beliefs in that religion did not resonate with me and some just plain upset me.  I liked our church family, however, and stayed there much longer than my belief held out.  Eventually, the differences between what the church said was true and what my heart said was true, led to my leaving the Southern Baptist faith.  I felt like I had been released from a snare.

At first, after leaving the Baptist faith, I veered away from religion or spirituality in any form, much the same way I did after leaving the Catholic faith.  But, after I left my old life and started my new life, I encountered people who were on spiritual journeys that were unlike any I had known.  Their spiritual lives were rich and full, but did not involve churches or organized religion.  They did not own any particular "faith".  They chose to read and study and pick and choose what suited them.  They refused to be labeled or to be pushed into joining or belonging.  Some did find groups or even churches that resonated with them and their diverse beliefs and others continue to "get closer" on their own.

In other blogs, I have written about what I have read and studied and learned.  I believe in Universal Energy and reincarnation and goodness.  To choose an organized faith, I probably lean more toward Buddhism, although I am not a Buddhist.  I am always searching and always learning.  Now, my Sunday mornings are not spent in a church but are spent watching Oprah's Super Soul Sunday.  The diversity of her guests and their beliefs and their teachings keeps me interested.  I learn something new every Sunday.  I feel better about myself and about life after I watch Super Soul Sunday.  It is not church, but I don't want church.  It is a spiritual journey and that is what I value and need in my life right now.

My daughter and her husband are Catholics and are raising their children as Catholics.  Having been raised a Catholic, I am actually quite comfortable with that because I know and understand the faith, even if I do not choose to be part of it.  My daughter and grandchildren live with me and I respect their religious choice and I  ask them to honor "my Super Soul Sunday time".  My son-in-law, who is going to college in another city, is less accepting of other beliefs.  He was visiting on a Sunday while I was watching Super Soul Sunday.  As he and the children were getting ready to leave for Mass, my grandson came in to ask why I never go to church with them.  I explained, as I had before, that I don't believe the same as they do, and that is okay.  I said that I get my spiritual lessons from Super Soul Sunday.  That is when he said, "That show tricks you."  "Tricks me, how?" I asked.  I knew those were not his words or his thoughts.  "It tricks you so you won't go to church", he replied.  I smiled and told him I have spent many years going to churches, I have learned about all kinds of religions and spiritual beliefs and I choose Super Soul Sunday - I am not tricked, or fooled - I make a conscious choice.  I reminded him that people have different beliefs and we need to respect those beliefs because we all have our own spiritual paths that get us closer to God or whatever higher power we accept.  I wanted to tell him, but did not, that perhaps church is tricking his dad from growing spiritually in other ways.  But, if I want to teach tolerance, I must practice it.  I am committed to honoring what my grandchildren are being spiritually taught.  I may not always agree, but they also have their own spiritual path to travel.  I just hope they will learn to honor mine.  We can "get closer" through honoring one another this way.

"Get closer" can mean many things.  It may relate to a relationship, spirituality, a career, education, a dream.  But, to me, the lesson of "get closer" is to put in the work, make the effort, set aside the time, make the commitment no matter what or who it is you are trying to get closer to.  This blog is my way of getting closer to Manifesting Mount Dora.  It keeps me focused, keeps the dream sharp, gives me hope.  Perhaps we should all take time every now and then to consider what or who we want to get closer to.  

Learning By Daring Greatly

While traveling recently, I was reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.  She talks about those who dare greatly, those who work through feelings of shame.  She calls them Wholehearted,  the people who live their lives with their whole hearts.  I am not one of them.  I am learning from Brene Brown and others how to live in such a fashion, but I am still far from calling myself Wholehearted. 

We all experience shame, but how we handle it determines if we live large, Wholehearted lives or small, sheltered lives.  Mostly, my life has been small and sheltered.  I seek what I think is safety and security, rather than going for the big prize. 

I know people who live Wholeheartedly and, I thought of them as odd.  They took chances - huge chances - with their finances, their relationships, their experiences and that all seemed foolhearted to me.  Why take chances and risk losing what you have, even if what you have is not that much?  That was me alright, holding tight to what little I had, always afraid that it would be taken from me, I would lose it foolishly, or that it would just disappear.

Brene Brown talks about how shame sabotages joy.  Your life is going well and all you can do is imagine disasters that could rip away all that is good.  You have been given a gift of a few years or months or weeks or days of happiness in most, if not all, areas of your life and instead of basking in the joy of the moment, your mind fills with the dreaded what-if's.  What if I or my spouse loses our job?  What if my spouse or my child or I get sick?  What if I am in a car accident?  What if there is another terroist attack?  What if the stock market crashes?  Oh, no, I will lose everything!  I will be destitute, homeless, alone, in pain, sad.  If I allow myself to feel joy now, or even just feel good, I am tempting fate to shower me with calamities.

Why do some of us think like that?  We are carrying shame around with us, probably since childhood, and with shame comes the "not enough" feelings.  I am not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough.  Because I am not enough, I don't deserve much. Perhaps I have received more good than I deserve and soon it will be payback time.  Whom am I to think I deserve this much happiness, good times, money, love?  There is only so much happiness, good times, money and love in the world and I have surely reached my limit. I thought all these things at one time or another. 

The people I know who live what Brene Brown calls Wholeheartedly, don't think this way, or, at least if they do on occasion think like that, they are able to snap out of it.  They know they deserve joy, happiness, prosperity, success, and love.  They believe that all these are in abundance and the good they receive does not lessen the good that others can have.  And, because they think like this, because they are not living in the shadow of shame, they take chances, they live big, they embrace life. But, that does not always mean they succeed.  No one experiences success 100% of the time. But, when they do fail, they react differently than people in shame, like me, would.

A businessman I know had a successful professional career which gave him financial security and a very comfortable life.  He was happily married, well respected, in good health and enjoying a life that many would envy.  I was shocked when he became a partner in a business venture that seemed risky at best and foolhearted at worst.  To me, his new venture reeked of greediness. Didn't he already have enough?  What more could he want?  Why would he risk what he has for the chance to have more?  My foreboding feelings about the business venture proved to be correct.  The vision he and his partners had was not well developed and the location for their business was a poor choice.  What they thought was enough capital to get their business off the ground came up far short of what was needed to even have the slightest chance of success.  Some of the partners were self-serving and made poor decisions independent of the group.  Soon their venture became a money pit.  After shoveling in more money than they could afford, the partners began to look for ways to dump their business.  Fortunately, a buyer came along and although they were able to recupe some of what they lost, they still came out of the venture with less money than when they started it. 

Had that been me, I would have been consumed with shame.  How could I, a successful business person, make such a terrible business decision?  How could I not see through my less than trustworthy partners?  I failed and I am a failure.  I am embarrassed and ashamed.  What will people think of me?  Will I lose my credibility?  I will never do such a foolhearty thing again. 

Fortunately, the businessman had a healthier opinion of himself than I do of myself.  He saw his failed venture as a lesson.  He learned from his mistakes, shook off the dust of failure and moved forward with even more confidence than before.  He now knew more than he did before his failed partnership, so he was sure his next venture would be successful.  He was not worried about what others thought of him because he knew that they too had tried and failed.  He knew that he was a success even if that particular business venture was not and he knew that he would try again.

With more years and life experiences behind me, I now understand that it was not greediness that motivated him, it was the desire for new adventures and successes.  He liked playing the game.  He liked inventing and creating new businesses.  And, because he was willing and had always been willing to take chances, his failed business was just one blip on a map filled with successes. 

Why has he been able to shake off shame while myself and others have not?  Who knows?  The influence of his parents, the childhood he experienced, his basic personality, his astrological sign, education, good luck?  He did face shame, as we all do, but he knew how to diffuse it. 

Brene Brown teaches that to shake off shame we need to name it and own it.  Accept what happened.  It is what it is.  I cannot go back and change it; all I can do is accept it.  Feel the shame, the pain.  Allow yourself a period of time to experience the feelings, so you can get over them and move past them.  Share your shame with someone you trust.  Tell them your crappy story.  Cry on someone's shoulder, just make sure it is someone who won't allow you to wallow in your shame.  Pick someone who can show empathy and understanding, but who will also encourage you to pick yourself up and dust yourself off.  Telling your story is powerful and freeing.  Figure out what the lesson of your failure is and promise yourself that you won't make the same mistake again and, if you do, oh, well, go through the same process until the lesson is ingrained in you.  Know that your decision was bad, your business or your relationship failed, or that you made a mistake.  You are not bad, you are not a failure, you are not a mistake.  Know that you are good, you are a success, you are worthy. 

That is the difference between the businessman and me.  He never doubted himself, even though he may have doubted his decisions regarding his failed business venture.  And, because he never doubted himself, he was able to walk away from the ruins and build again.  I, on the other hand, would still, ten years later, be beating myself up, regretting what I cannot change and afraid to try again, afraid to live large and dare greatly.

Fortunately, I am no longer the person I was when that knew about that man and his failed business.  I have learned many lessons, some through experience, some through the advice and actions of others, some through reading (Thank you, Brene!).  I am living a little bolder and daring a little more greatly than before, but I can improve.  I am learning that I am more than my mistakes,   I am learning there is enough, more than enough, for that businessman and for you and for me.  I am learning that I have the right to live larger and be more.  I have the right to Manifest Mount Dora.    

It is What You Make of It

We have all heard sayings that life is what you make of it; that we should control our situations and not let them control us. I have a simple example of how one's perception can change the meaning and importance of a situation or an opportunity.

Recently I was working at a client's office and one of the employees started ranting about Facebook.  He said things like, "Facebook is all about ego - me, me, me.  See what I am doing.  See what I think.  I am the most interesting person on earth.  Everything I say is important and must be seen.  I will never be on Facebook.  I am not that impressed with myself and it is a colossal time-waster." 

When I tried to tell him about how I use Facebook, he would not even listen.  He had a preconceived idea about a medium he has never used and he did not want me or anyone else to refute his image of Facebook.  What he refused to see is that Facebook, as with most other things in life, is what you make of it.  Yes, I do use Facebook to post personal communications about my life, but those types of posts are infrequent.  And, I definitely use Facebook to keep up with what my friends and family are doing and to share photos.  But, I also use Facebook for inspiration, for news, for community activities, for political and social activism, for appreciating art and architecture, for travel information and suggestions, to read blogs, and to meet people from all over the world.  

I belong to several Facebook groups and pages that exist only to post inspirational stories and sayings.  One of my favorite things to do first thing in the morning is to go on Facebook and read the first inspirational messages of the day.  What a great way to start the morning!

I also belong to several political pages and groups and I use their posts to keep up with what is happening in politics around the country and in the world.  Likewise, I belong to Facebook groups that involve political and social activism and I use them to also keep up with news and to become involved in activities, to sign petitions and to share my thoughts on various subjects.  

Some of my Facebook contacts are local business and organizations and businesses and organizations in my favorite town, Mount Dora and in my favorite city, Manhattan.  The news they post about activities, sales, drives and other happenings help me stay up-to-date with my community and with my two favorite places to visit and help me to plan activities with my family.  

I belong to some pages that just share beautiful things like art and architecture.  In fact, I just re-posted a picture of a Van Gogh painting this morning so all my contacts could share in the beauty of his painted sunflowers. I am connected with some travel pages and love seeing the photos of places all over the world and reading the travel blogs and comments.  

But, without a doubt, one of my favorite things about Facebook is that I can make friends with people all over the world.  I may never meet them in person, but I treasure our online friendships just the same.  Through Facebook, I have made friends with people in Canada, Saudi Arabia, France, Egypt, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Malaysia, and other countries, as well as people in other states here in the U.S.  I have learned so much about other cultures and beliefs.  I have followed political upheavals in Egypt and Syria, offering support as best I can through social media.  My world is much larger and more colorful because of Facebook.  

Facebook is just an example of making something what you want it to be.  Your Facebook can be all about you or it can be more, much more.  The guy who was ranting about Facebook did not even want to try and think about it in a different way.  He had this idea of what it was and he did not want me or anyone else to prove him wrong.  Unfortunately, that means he misses out on the big world called Facebook.  

A friend that I met on Facebook recently sent me a message about her life.  Due to employment and financial situations, she and her immediate family moved from her home country to another one in her region of the world.  Life in her new location is much different and she has struggled with great unhappiness about the change.  In her previous home, her life revolved more around her family, extended and immediate, and her friends.  Having left many of them behind, she had to find a new focus.  It took awhile, but I was so glad to hear that she has found fulfillment and happiness in her work, has discovered and nurtured new passions and is exploring returning to school for an additional degree.  In spite of the hardships and sadness she faced in her new environment, she has found a way to make something good and worthwhile out of it.  She may never feel the same about her new country as she did her homeland, but she is adapting in a way that will allow her to find a level of contentment and fulfillment.  I enjoy following her experiences and have learned much about the cultures of both places through what she shares with me.  She is not only an example of "it is what you make of it", but also an example of what Facebook can be.  

I have softened my approach to Manifesting the Mount Dora for the same "it is what you make of it" reason.  I love my life, but I am hoping to create a different life.  I was focusing too much on what I want to create and not enough on what is right here before me.  Because I was looking ahead, I was getting frustrated with what had not changed and not appreciating all that is good about what has not changed.  I also am working on accepting that my Manifesting Mount Dora project is a work in progress and I have to appreciate the process.  Manifesting Mount Dora, the project and the end result, are what I make of them.   

Vulnerability Among Friends

I am still on the subject of vulnerability and still praising the work of Brené Brown.  If you missed my recommendations of her books in previous blogs, I will list them again:

Daring Greatly
The Gifts of Imperfection
The Power of Vulnerability

Vulnerability is when we choose to go outside our comfort zone; when we risk failure and ridicule to dare to do something different, to be someone different, to stretch and grow.  Vulnerability is uncomfortable for the one practicing it and often for those observing it.  When we are vulnerable, we bare our souls and open our hearts, and that can be scary, can make us feel nervous and ill-at-ease, but it can also be exhilarating, freeing and life-changing.   When we watch someone else being vulnerable, we squirm, feel awkward, are at a loss for words, or if we do speak, usually say the wrong thing - not something supportive and loving, but words that criticize, judge, ridicule and hurt.

When I chose to leave my husband and create a new life, I was being vulnerable.  When I began a new relationship, I was being vulnerable.  After a long married life of predictability and fear of the unknown, I chose to be vulnerable enough to dare to choose a new life.  I thought my "friends" would be supportive and happy for me.  Some did and those are still my friends today.  Others did not and, eventually, I no longer considered them friends.  Some of them were never really my friends to begin with, as they later proved,  and some were just not ready to accept the changes I was making.

My vulnerability raised issues for them.  Some wanted to make similar changes, but were afraid.  Watching me change, brought their fears to the surface.  Others resented what I was doing - either because they wanted to do the same and could not or would not, or their ideas of what is good and bad behavior raised judgments that what I was doing was wrong.  Some may have just feared change of any kind - even in someone else's life.  Either way, I made them uncomfortable and they did not know what to do with that feeling of unease so they lashed out at me with criticism, judgement and even ridicule.  And, honestly, in the past, I often behaved the same with others who made me uncomfortable with their vulnerability.

Sometimes looking at someone else is like looking in a mirror.  I am miserable and when I look at you I see someone who is miserable and we form a friendship based on our mutual unhappiness.  But, as soon as one of us dares to be vulnerable and go looking for happiness, the other feels betrayed.  The one left behind, let's call her Eva,  may not say these words, but she is thinking them, at some deep level, "How dare you go looking for happiness and leave me behind!"  What follows is fear.  Eva fears that I will find happiness and she never will.  Eva fears that our friendship will never be the same.  Eva fears that I will find happiness, then fall flat on may face, thereby confirming that her fear of happiness is justified - it never lasts and it leads to pain.

At first Eva's fear leads to her expression of all the dire consequences that could arise from my actions.  In the case of my marital separation, I heard, "You are too old to start over", "You will face all kinds of financial problems", "You will miss your home", "You were closer to your husband's family than your own and you will lose them", "You are moving too quickly", "Your problems with just follow you", "You will alienate your friends and family", "You are letting your heart rule your mind", "You will have to start all over", "You are not thinking things through", "You are being silly (stupid, immature)".

Once Eva runs out of warnings and predictions of failure, she resorts to criticism and judgement, as did my friends.  "Marriage is forever", "If you failed at this marriage, you will fail at other relationships", "You should not be in a new relationship if you are not divorced yet", "You are being selfish", "This is wrong", "You are wrong".

And, if Eva fails to change my course using criticism, she then recruits the help of others by gossiping.  Surely, if she tells everyone we know what I have shared with her, and what I may not be ready to share with others, they will agree with her that I am on a dangerous course and jump on her bandwagon to pull me back into the "real world".  That is exactly what happened, especially with my very own "Eva" who was quick to tell everyone where I had gone wrong.  Some she told did join in her chorus of criticism, some were uninterested, and others were insulted by Eva including them in her gossip circle and openly came to me with words of support and encouragement.

When my course of action did not change, even after Eva's gossiping, she resorted to treating me with rudeness, especially around our mutual friends, and then to exclusion - purposefully, leaving me out of activities, lunches, dinners, movies and other group activities.  

I was slow to react.  So much was changing in my life, so fast, that the resulting vulnerability was scaring me a little.  I felt like I needed the comfort of old relationships.  But, soon there was no comfort in those relationships.  The day I realized I was no longer gaining anything from those friendships and, in fact, was being mistreated, I made the choice to move on and leave those relationships in the friendship cemetery.  Doing so was not easy, but it was the right and healthy thing for me to do.

Now, years later, my Eva has made some of the same choices I did.  She opened herself up to her own vulnerability as she made brave and important changes in her life.  We still are not friends and never will be because there is too much distrust from the past, but we are friendlier than we have been in a very long time.

My closest friends now are those that saw and accepted my vulnerability;  who allowed me to change and showered me with support.  But, as time has past, I have forgiven those who were not there for me - those who attacked my vulnerability.  I know that they were uncomfortable and afraid and fear destroys relationships.

Soul Friends

My last post was about my dad - a bit of a downer.  Today is one year since my mom (step-mother) passed over and although I thought about writing about her, I think that could also end up being more melancholy than what I want to communicate today.  Instead, I want to honor my oldest (not in age) friend, whose birthday was this past week. 

It was the summer of 1960.  My father, my two sisters and I were moving to the town where his business was located.  He had rented us a large house with a wrap-around front porch and a roomy, fenced-in front yard for our collie dog.  It was moving-in day when a tall, round woman with two little girls in tow appeared at the back door.  I was five at the time, ready to start first grade in a month.  The woman introduced herself as Clara and the dark-haired and brown-eyed girl hiding behind her leg as Debbie, her six-year-old daughter.  The younger, blonde girl was a neighbor's daughter, Robin.  Debbie and I watched each other with curiosity.Debbie, too, was starting first grade in the fall. 

When Clara discovered that my mom was deceased and my step-mother and father were divorced, she was filled with motherly compassion for me.  Debbie's big brown eyes got even larger as she tried to comprehend how the girl in front of her could live without a mother.  In the weeks that followed, before school started, Clara often invited me to their house on the next street to play with Debbie, and sometimes Robin.

Perhaps, because I had no mom and was accustomed to going to a child-sitter's house while my father worked, starting school was not scary to me.  But, for Debbie, that first day of school was terrifying.  Her mother walked Debbie and me to the bus stop the first day.  Debbie cried, but to ease her fear, I held her hand as we boarded the bus.  Unfortunately, we were in different classrooms and Debbie had to face the rest of the day alone, but I was waiting outside her classroom door at the end of the day and we walked hand-in-hand to the bus together.  That was the start of a friendship that has lasted almost 53 years. 

Debbie and I only attended two years of school together.  My father, one of my sisters and I moved to another state the summer after second grade.  Even during our two school years together, our friendship waxed and waned as we made other friends, but my family's move was still tramatic for us.  Unbelievably, those two third graders started writing letters to one another - letters that always started:  Dear, Debbie or Becky, How are you? I am fine. And from there we shared our experiences in two different schools in two different states.

Every summer, and during some Christmas holidays, my father put me on a Greyhound bus to go visit Debbie.  I loved those visits, especially the summer ones.  I stayed two or three weeks.  Debbie's mom showered me with the motherly love I was missing and Debbie and I and the always-changing foster children in their home spent hours playing in the summer sunshine.  When we were older, Debbie faced her fears of leaving home and her mom and came to visit me a couple of times.

Debbie and I were not always close. We always stayed in touch, we always saw each other at least once a year, but sometimes we did not like each other very much.  Debbie was living in the suburbs of a large city and I was growing up in a very rural area.  Our experiences were completely different.  As we reached our teens years, Debbie was hanging with friends that I thought were trouble.  She was hiding things from her parents and I wanted no part of that. When I visited, Debbie often went out with her friends and I stayed home with her mom, picking vegetables from their garden, shelling peas and talking.  Perhaps it was my relationship with her mom that kept our friendship intact during Debbie's adventurous teenage years, but, whatever was the glue that held our friendship together, I am eternally grateful that we did not drift apart as we often went our separate ways. I went to college, for awhile, and Debbie moved to another state and worked for her brother.  I moved even further away - more than 800 miles.  We both got married the same year.  Through all the years and all the moves and all the changes, we kept writing letters, even when we could not visit one another. 

Now we stay in contact with cell phones and emails and Facebook, but sadly, we rarely see one another.  We have birthday dates - I call her on her birthday, as I did last week, and she calls me on mine.  We drink a glass of wine and chat for more than an hour.  As the years pass, our friendship deepens.  We appreciate each other more with each birthday conversation.  We know that a friendship that has lasted this long, especially from such a distance, is a gift to treasure. 

We have supported one another through marital and family problems, births, deaths and adoptions, illnesses and accidents, happiness and heartache, and, although our life experiences have been completely different, we have always had understanding and compassion for one another's problems and we have celebrated one another's joys and triumphs.  There is no one I laugh so heartily with than Debbie.  There is no one I can so quickly reconnect with, even after months of no communi-cation, and feel as though we have been talking every day.

I wish we lived closer.  I wish we could have a tea together at least once a week.  I wish I could call her up and say, "Let's go shopping."  I wish we could take long walks together and sort through the meaning of life.  But, we can't.  We have different lives a long distance apart.  We have families and businesses and responsibilities that keep us where we are, restricting our ability to even visit.  But, I know that in spite of all these challenges, our friendship endures because we are soul friends.  Our friendship transcends our lives.  It is deeper and stronger than our physical connection because it is a soul friendship and for that, and for Debbie, I will always be grateful.

Walking Away

I have been thinking about my father a lot recently.  Maybe because of Brene Brown's writing about living an authentic life and dealing with shame and guilt in her book The Gifts of Imperfection and perhaps because someone shared with me their desire to cut a family member out of her life, as I did my father about ten years ago.

My father was a typical mid-20th century husband and father.  He expected to have a stay-at-home wife to raise his children, take care of his needs and provide him with a comfortable home life.  He was open to having several children, as long as he was able to pay for the bills and his wife was willing to take care of them.  I doubt if he, like most men of his time, even thought much about the consequences of having children, other than the cost.  His mind was on his business and children were his wife's concern.

Unfortunately, after the birth of four children and the death of one, his wife, and my mother, checked out of this earthly life at the relatively young age of 39.  I was an infant when she passed and my older sisters were 10 and 7.  Not only was my unprepared father left with three children, one a baby, but those kids were also girls - a fact that seemed to make the situation even harder for him.  His mother came from Chicago and took care of us for about 18 months - long enough for my father to find another wife, my stepmother who passed last year, to raise his kids.  That marriage failed quickly and again he was faced with three daughters to raise without the help of a woman since my grandmother's age prevented her from coming to his rescue a second time.  So, he did the best he could.  His best was not all that good in some ways, but he adequately provided for our physical needs.

My father was not the huggy, warm type of dad.  Not at all like those wonderful widowed TV dads who are wise, generous and loving.  He worked hard - rising at 4 AM to run his business, often working on Saturdays and Sundays.  He was impatient, demanding and unforgiving of mistakes and transgressions.  A glass accidentally dropped and broken was treated the same as if it were hurled purposefully across the room in a fit of anger.  I lost my greatly-needed eyeglasses when I was nine and, as punishment, he refused to buy me new ones.  I spent the next eight years sitting in the front of classrooms, squinting to read the chalkboard and books, and living with almost constant headaches until I went to live with my stepmother and she took me to the optometrist and I soon sported new glasses that allowed me to see so much that I had been missing.

My father had a temper, but he never hit us.  He would yell, he would slam doors, he would subject us to days, weeks and even months of silence for not acting or being who he wished we were.  My two older sisters left home as soon as they graduated high school, leaving me alone to deal with him.  Nothing I did was good enough, right enough or fast enough.  I was an A student, but felt like a failure.  When I was 14 we had a silly argument over who sang a song and he stopped talking to me - for months.  I became depressed; my friends and teachers worried about me.  A guidance counselor intervened and eventually my father allowed me to go live with my stepmother in another state.

At first, I was just relieved and happy to have him out of my life, but since my stepmother forced me to stay in contact with him, I soon fell back into the old pattern of wanting to please him and never being able to do so.  He visited me and I visited him a few times over the next three years.  Then, I ended up moving to the state where he had settled and we even lived in the same town for a couple of years.  He traveled a lot with his business, which allowed us to maintain an almost normal and friendly relationship.  Then I moved 100 miles away to go to college and within a year, I was married.  My husband I moved to another state.  My father visited whenever he was traveling through our city.  Eventually, after he retired, we ended up living in the same state again and for three years, my father resided in a mobile home on the property where my husband and I had built our home.

Living so close together was a bad idea.  Our tenuous relationship strained with the constant contact.  My father routinely invaded our privacy, using the "emergency" house key we gave him to enter our home whenever he wanted, even when we were sleeping .  He was rude and argumentative with my husband and my in-laws.  He told lies about us to my sisters.  My marriage bore the stress of the constant problems he caused.  My father became more and more combative, even speaking badly of us to the people in the small town where we lived.  After three years of escalating conflict, he moved to the state where one of my other sisters lived.

I was so relieved to be rid of him, again, but he was soon inching his way back into my life.  Knowing that he was not welcome, he became nicer and I let my guard down, again.  And, eventually, I would regret it, again.  Over and over that happened.  He quickly ruined his relationship with the daughter that he was living near and moved to another state to actually live with my half-sister.  She was so sure that she and dad could occupy the same house in harmony.  Wrong.  And, then it was back to my state, back to me.  He had no place to go, he would be homeless, or so he led me to believe.  No way he could live with my husband and me after the horrible experience we had with him living next door.  So, I bought him a piece of land and a mobile home a mile away.  Even that was too close.  He started out nice and cooperative and seemingly appreciative of all I was doing for him.  That lasted just long enough for the closing on the property to take place.  Then, his ugly side came out again.  Constant complaints and demands.  Nothing I did was good enough. Soon he was telling lies about me to my sisters and his neighbors.  But, I put up with it for eight long years.

Why?  Why would I allow myself to be treated like that?  I kept hoping that if I did enough for him, he would become the dad I always wanted and needed.  Time was running out.  He was aging.  I only had so much time left to finally get the dad I had always hoped for.  I did more and more for him, especially as his health declined and he no longer drove.  And, still he disrespected and criticized me.  Nothing was enough, I was not enough.  The more I did, the more he berated me, the more he complained, the more he demanded.  As he aged, I felt trapped.  How could I break off my relationship with him if his health was declining?  He needed me.  I could not abandon him.  I resigned to a life of his verbal and emotional abuse.  Until. . .

Who knows what causes that moment - that moment in time when you say, "Enough! No more!"  I stopped to check on him one morning on my way to work.  He began berating me for not buying him a car.  His truck had broken down a couple of years before, but he was already rarely driving due to his health.  I took him grocery shopping, to doctor appointments and anywhere else he needed to go.  Then, he got this idea that he could start driving again and that I should buy him a car.  When I refused, he became angry and for weeks he had argued with me about it.  That morning he started the argument anew, but that time he accused me of abusing him.  He said I was a horrible daughter and that he had called a state agency to report me for elder abuse.  I knew he was lying, as he often did, but, for some unknown reason, at that moment something snapped inside me.  No, that is not the correct description - some slammed shut - like a door closing on our relationship.  Without a word, I walked away.  I never saw him again.  I wrote a letter to him, to the VA Hospital that provided his health care and to my sisters stating that I was no longer responsible for him in any way.  He could continue to live on my property, but I had ceased providing him with transportation or any other aid or services.  I detailed some of the psychological and emotional abuse I had experienced from him and declared myself free from any his manipulation and cruelty.  Three years later I received a call from a deputy sheriff informing me that my father had been found dead in his mobile home and had been deceased for several days.  He died alone.  His life did not have to end that way, but his own actions brought about his lonely demise.

The day I walked away from him was a day of rebirth for me.  It was the beginning of my new life - a life that would take a few years to develop, but a life that was in the birthing process. Taking action to leave that abusive situation opened my mind to clearly seeing and evaluating other relationships and situations in my life.   It would lead to the end of my marriage, the terminations of some "friendships" that were unhealthy, the creation of new relationships and a new life.

I am a person who often suffers from guilt.  But, surprisingly, when I walked away from my father that day, I never suffered any guilt or shame about my decision.  Some people were shocked and judgmental about my decision.  My father was usually funny and charming around people he first met or saw infrequently.  Friends and acquaintances of mine could not understand why I had such problems with him or why I cut him from my life.  They saw a man who was putting on a show - a witty man with great magnetism; I lived with a man who was rarely nice to me unless he needed something from me.  Even the disdain and criticism of these people did not affect me.  I was strong and confident in my decision.  My only regret was that I had not walked away long, long before.

Here is what I learned from my decision to walk away:

• You can never mold someone into the person you want them to be. 
• Abuse does not have to be physical.  Emotional and psychological abuse are just as damaging and may even have effects that last longer.
• Leave an abusive relationship as soon as you can.  
• Anyone can be an abuser - your spouse, your partner, a parent, a sibling, a friend - ANYONE.
• No one deserves abuse.  
• Manipulation is abuse. 
• You can change your life, one step at a time. 
• Don't pay attention to those who criticize or ostracize you for removing an abuser from your life. 
• If your friends do not support your decision to remove an abuser from your life, they are not your friends. 
• If other family members do not support your decision to remove an abuser from your life, feel free to remove them, too.
• NEVER feel guilty for doing what is right and healthy for you.  
• There are supportive, loving people in the world and if you are wasting all your time trying to please an abuser, you are missing the opportunity to have wonderful relationships with those people.  

In a way, my decision to walk away that day led to Manifesting Mount Dora.  Back then, I would never have dreamed I could even think about manifesting something wonderful in my life.  In fact, I could not even imagine having a wonderful life.  Now I do.  All because I walked away.