I understand the need and the science behind this whole “social distancing” thing and everything shutting down.

I live alone.  Most of my neighbors are assholes.  The only neighbors I like left town to go to their “summer” home because the schools are shut down.

Work is a nightmare because I work for a major ISP and every company on the planet is trying to amp up their bandwidth for their remote workers, so emergency requests and people yelling has become my new norm.

I feel the anxiety of everyone online, all of my friends, all of my coworkers (local and remote), EVERYONE right now.  I feel the worry and the desperation too… I feel all of it and it’s taking its toll.

I’m exhausted, lonely, overwhelmed, out of groceries (haven’t been buying because I’m moving and now the stores are empty)… ready to burst into tears at any moment.  Worried my move is going to be delayed, worried I’m going to be driving across the country and nothing will be open… already paying for a house I can’t live in and if they shut the whole fuckin country down, I’ll be paying mortgage and rent and utilities in 2 residences for MONTHS!  I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown at this point.

I’m whining, I know.  First world problems.  I know that there are so much worse scenarios.  I’m not discounting any of that, I just have no one to vent to and I don’t cry (especially after just doing my makeup – insert eye roll here!).

Check in on your people. For those of us that are already afraid of dying alone because we’re just too much for people to understand or handle, this is our hell.  Temporary or not.

So.. I did a thing.  I’m a little too old to be doing things off the cuff at this point in my life, so I suppose I deserved the hell that I put myself through yesterday.

My oldest daughter took me away for a weekend to have mom/daughter time before I move away.  It was a lovely time, full of a whole lotta nothing in the middle of Kentucky.  Seriously.  Banjo land, USA.  She was instantly disappointed that most of the people that were originally going on this trip (grand total of 7-9 people) all backed out at the last minute.  We made the most of it, but you could tell she was disappointed all weekend.

Fast forward to Sunday when we got home, she wanted for me, her, and my youngest daughter to “trip sac” on shrooms.  Umm… I’ve never in my life done them.  Probably never will again.  That was quite possibly the most horrific .. well, not horrific.. but it was MUY MUY BADDO!  I can’t even put into words.. all the things.  I had to isolate myself in the bathroom … couldn’t close my eyes because of the geometric kaleidoscope happening behind my eyelids.  I couldn’t keep my eyes open because everything I saw was too loud.

My daughter’s cat was fucking with me, noises made me out of control anxious, quiet made my thoughts sound like they were coming through a bull horn, I couldn’t breathe my way out or calm myself down.

I needed hugged but didn’t want anyone around me.  I was cold but a blanket was too stifling.  A cold rag on my face made everything itch.

I WAS A FUCKING MESS FOR 4 HOURS!  BUT!… It did occur to me that I have a lot of pent up pain, tears, and emotions that I need to find a way to let out in a healthy way.  I wanted to cry but I was terrified that if I started, I wouldn’t stop and I’d end up at the hospital.

I couldn’t figure out what I needed to make this all better, or to feel happy, or to feel loved.  It occurred to me, as I was tiring out my hand with a ball of putty, reading a box with “Sleep Delivered” on the side, and trying to calm down that I have no idea what it’s like to feel loved, safe, protected, and accepted.   I certainly provide most of this for myself in some capacity, but I have no idea what the proper way is.  I don’t like to be touched, hugged much, coddled.. mainly because that was NEVER part of my upbringing.  I don’t know what to do with people who try to love me or take care of me.  I honestly have NO IDEA how to process that.

The only thing that brought me any peace was the thought that my Irish Setter, Killian, loves me to no end.  In his own way that kinda feeds off of me.  He will come up, bury his head in my lap, wag his tail, and let me love on him.  Occasionally, he will stand up and push me back so that he can literally hug me and then crawl on my lap like a child.

Do you know how sad that is?

Then, on the way home, the Jim stuff hit me like a brick.  I forced myself not to think of him during my trip because it was simply too much.  He lied to me for 5 years.  He promised me “the world”, happiness, protection, safety, loyalty, commitment, undying love, devotion, a future, and forever.  He gave me NONE of that in the end.  It was all a lie.  A lie that I invested my heart, my life, my world into… and I am tremendously hurt.  I feel abandoned.  I feel lost.  I feel unlovable.  I feel alone.  I am still destroyed.

I walk around every single day with a smile on my face, a joke or quick witted remark, and fully engaged in life, but on the inside I am broken into a million little pieces of glass.  So small that you can’t see… like when you drop a glass on concrete and work feverishly to clean up… to leave one shard that digs into your foot weeks later when you think it’s safe to walk barefoot again.

My youngest daughter didn’t do this with us and showed up around hour 3.  I think.  I had no idea what time it was.  I couldn’t even look at my phone, it was moving too quickly for me to focus.  She tried to help but I was a mess.  Even if she asks me today how it was, I am literally at a loss for words.  It was everything and nothing.  I am also realizing I don’t know how to communicate my feelings.  Everything is so overwhelming and I can’t get it out.  Odd, for someone who never shuts the fuck up!  She put on some music that she thought would help, but it was indian flute music and for whatever reason, that sent me into a sad tailspin.  That music does not work for me and it makes me sad.  I just couldn’t think of any music to tell her to put on because sounds HURT!  LOL I needed complete silence, completely void of any vision… I honestly have no idea what would’ve made this better, but nothing did.  Exceot thinking about Killian and playing with my putty.

NEVER AGAIN!  I did it.. I’m done.. I can say I did it once and it was not a good thing for me.  I have far too much anxiety to be messing with things like shrooms.  And now… I have PTSD LOL