I have one of those cats who are fairly stand-offish.  Yet for the past month or so she has started demanding the right to sit on my lap while I type.  She hasn’t been on my lap much, ever.  She prefers to sit next to me but I’m on a chair where she can’t.  I feel like we had a multiple year hiatus where we just didn’t cuddle; now all of a sudden she is massively affectionate.  She is fourteen so I am humoring her as much as I can.  I won’t get to have her forever and I won’t forgive myself if I shun her last wave of affection.  Even though it is a pain to type around her it is a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

There is a lot of work to do and I’m not getting it done and I am struggling emotionally with that.  Finishing the book is like pulling teeth.  I’m on the last page but the kids are up and I can’t concentrate.  I have to leave the house in two hours and I won’t be home until after bed time.  I really do treat my kids as my first priority.  Shanna cuddled up next to me watching a movie on her iPad and Calli is having fun banging things together.  I can blog with less than half a brain.

I’m tired and empty feeling.  I’m struggling with feeling avoidant.  I wish I could hide in a cave for a month or three.  If I am supposed to feel happier after the relief of grief I’m not there.  I feel so tired.  I feel like I have seen the beginning of a long journey.  The ritual is being held at a small college in San Francisco.  Most of the people there are students who will write an academic paper about this experience.  Uhm.  Wow.  That’s actually fairly cool but it means that they are all building a community together because they are all students together.  I’m an outsider, as usual.  Above and beyond that I live an hour away; I’m just not going to come to an event in San Francisco that starts after 7pm on a regular basis.  I don’t handle lack of sleep well and I can’t sleep in.  I have a really strong internal clock and I’m going to be awake by 5am.  It hurts.  The running takes too much out of me.  I can’t go without sleep.

I think I want to start hosting a survivor discussion group at my house.  I’m thinking once a month at first because weekly hosting would freak me out.  No one else wants to meet early in the day and the only way I can handle being at an event that starts at 7:30 or 8 is if it is in my garage.  It’s a sad fact of my life but a fact never-the-less.  I’d be thrilled to hear input on what day of the week people could make it here. If I want to be able to talk about my experiences maybe I should start with the people who are willing to come to me and are already broken in by knowing me.  If you already know me in real life you will probably be able to handle me saying what I’m going to say because I already do.  Ha.

I’m never going to be able to go find a community to join.  I’m not that kind of girl.  I may have to make my own.  That’s what Sobonfu told me.  I feel very tired thinking about how much work that sounds like.  I am not good at being the work horse any more.  I feel far too resentful and I have no energy to spare.  I want to live my life and invite people to join me in it in a way that doesn’t actively drain me.  The things I have been trying… well… holy crap.  I need to get past feeling weird about inviting people over for dinner.  I need to be brave enough to just do it.  It’s frightening.  I expect that people always have something more interesting to be doing.

The big parties are hard.  Having a housemate was too hard.  Hosting family dinner was too hard.  Why does it work out better when someone comes randomly on a night?  I don’t seem to feel resentful about the fact that one more body on a given night doesn’t mean much extra work.  I tried too hard for family dinners.  That was a lot of the problem.  I wanted it to be a “nice meal”.  It was stupid.  I have a very bad habit of making things too hard for myself and then feeling overwhelmed and unable to enjoy the result.

I don’t really do that when one person comes over for dinner in the middle of the week.  I’m distracted and distant because I don’t talk much while cooking but I work on my attitude while the kids are around. I will just not speak if I am feeling testy.  My bad attitude is not because of my children and I try to keep it away from them as much as possible.  This means that if I am in a terrible mood and I am thinking horrible and nasty thoughts I smile and nod and listen really carefully because I need to keep the conversation off of me.  It is a mixed bag because I really enjoy the way I am getting to know people.  But I need venting space.  I’m curious how it will work to have a specific “Hey! Let’s Support Each Other!” night.  I’m wondering if that will be a format I can formally recognize as support and stop feeling so lonely.

I’m not alone.  I have a ridiculously widespread community of people who love me intensely.  I just feel like I can’t see them.