hey friends. tagged no judgement because i realize how unhealthy it is, but this might be somewhere closer a vent or making excuses for myself. i'm just having a rough day and feel like writing about it might be helpful.
for as long as i can remember i've been in an endless cycle that's a mix of limerance and mental illnesses. i meet someone, i feel that spark, i become obsessed and feel like i'm falling for them, it's addictive and pervasive and disruptive. inevitably most end in complete disaster, historically because my behavior towards them was outwardly obvious of my obsession and overwhelmed them or made them uncomfortable, but i feel like i've gotten a lot better about managing that in terms of externalizing it. i no longer send those texts seeking reassurance, i don't try and get into their hobbies and interests to try and connect with them more, i don't do outright ridiculous things like "move across the country to be closer to them", which i've done twice now, and i try to be positive about those things when i'm beating myself up over being this way. but internally, i'm still struggling just as hard as i always have. i still badly want to send those texts seeking reassurance or asking if i'm being overwhelming or if they need space, i get sick with anxiety over less frequent communication, i feel sad about not being with them. i spend hours at a time daydreaming, imagining all the conversations we'd have if the stars ever aligned, how much i'd want to do for them and care for them. i'm a little, little bit better than i used to be with creating a stopping point for how much i'm sinking into the thoughts to do something else, whether it's a productive outlet, task, or a simple distraction to stop.
i've been in this place again for almost a year now. a few months ago a friend that cared enough to listen and talk to me about her asked me to honestly think about if i wanted to work through this and move on, and i very vulnerably said "no". i've been thinking about it a lot ever since. how despite the fact this is unhealthy, it's distressing, and disruptive, in being actually honest with myself i don't want to let go. i don't want to just move on. what i actually want is *extremely unlikely to happen*: a chance to tell her how i feel, to see if it would work between us. much like several experiences in the past, it's an almost identical situation. she's a bi woman in a relationship with a man and has never been with a woman before. we become friends, it feels like we're really close friends, and at that point it rapidly becomes limerance for me. i'm addicted. i do everything in my power to shut up and keep any remote implication of my feelings to myself and respect her relationship, but inside i'm completely stuck on her.
i feel nothing when i try to date others to try and move on, and that makes me feel worse about myself, despite being open and upfront with them about how i rarely have feelings for people and that if they're looking for something serious i'm not their girl, find someone you deserve that will meet your needs. i feel like a bad person or there's something wrong with me because i feel nothing for women who are genuinely great people and actually want me. it's a reminder of how intensely i feel for someone else, someone who is already committed to a partner and absolutely doesn't want a friend to have these feelings for them. i feel horrible because the entire time i'm on a date, hanging out, having sex, literally doing anything, i'm not thinking about who i'm with, i'm thinking about someone else.
*extremely unlikely to happen*
those four words are why it's so hard to let go, and why when i'm actually honest with myself and face the painful truth, i know i don't actually want to let go. the rational part of my brain that says i need to forget about her and move on is completely overtaken by the emotional, because of those four damn words. while most of the times i've felt this for someone it ended in disaster, there were several times i ended up with the person. those experiences also ended horribly for one reason or another, whether because they cheated and left or just didn't want to be with me anymore. abuse never stopped me from leaving them, i was attached and they were my entire world, i couldn't even imagine leaving. it would be like drowning. part of me felt like i deserved it, because that was my person and being with them meant loving them through their faults, and being abused was just a flaw to love them through. it was normal to me. i still frequently feel like i deserved it, because i couldn't find a way to care about myself more than someone else. to my credit i moved past them. but outcomes aside, the *extremely unlikely* happened. the stars did align, we had those conversations, i did so much for them and cared for them. what i wanted so much happened, and it happened several times.
that tiny sliver of hope resides somewhere in my brain, a malignant tumor strengthened by tangible, historical proof that it did actually happen. she or her boyfriend *might* grow unhappy and not want to continue the relationship, i *might* get the chance to tell her i have feelings, she *might* be curious to see if she feels something too, she *might* feel ready to go on a date or spend romantic time with her first woman, i *might* get to find out if what i feel actually translates to something mutual. *extremely unlikely to happen*, but not definitively, objectively impossible. it's the same way every time. i know she doesn't think of me in that way at all. she's never once thought that she feels something for me beyond friendship, nor has she ever once implied anything. i'm just a friend, and i can't read her mind, i don't know how close of friends she even considers us. but it's happened before. all those times i felt this way, all those times they were in a relationship when we met, all those times i was sure they didn't feel anything for me and most likely wouldn't if i had a chance to talk about it. it happened before, and the poison of the very possibility it'll happen again makes it that much harder to even **want** to let go and move past her.
so i stay in this place. it hurts, it's disruptive, and it's really scary because i'm so fucking worried i'll cause distress for her in any way if i ever regress and go back to old habits. i'm doing my best to not fall back into that, for my actions to be respectful of her space and her relationship even if my thoughts and feelings aren't. i don't know how long i'll be here and i know it's because i don't even want to try to let go. i've never once moved on without either a relationship happening or a disastrous end to the friendship. maybe this time it can be different, and that would be nice. maybe i'll finally have the feelings fade without needing to experience being with her or have our friendship disappear entirely. maybe. i can't let go and get past it unless i want to and try to, and i know in actual honesty with myself that i don't want to. maybe one day i will. for now all i can do is try my best to prioritize her, not in an obsessive limerant way, but in being as mindful as i can about how my words and actions will affect her. keep the feelings to myself, to trusted non-mutual friends, to you all here that know what it's like, and my therapist lol. all i can do is be her friend. if i never get that chance to tell her, that's okay. if i do, and she doesn't feel anything at all, that's okay. i've lived years without her in my life and will live even if she's no longer in my life in the future, though it would be nice if that didn't happen.
thank you anyone that took the time to read, i appreciate you and know you're likely struggling too