Letters From An Angry Addict

As a child, I never learned how to properly deal with emotions. Rather than express fear, sadness, angry, anxiety, etc. I learned how to use things to dull them and stuff them down. Now that I’m no longer using, I am left with all of these emotions and have no idea how to appropriately express them. For example, I know it’s not cool to yell at someone who frustrates me at work. Before I would have maybe sent a sext to a guy and used the attention to feel better. I can’t do that now. I have to experience each uncomfortable emotion and then sooth myself in a healthy way.

The other day I told my therapist that I have no idea how to sooth anger other than verbally attack the object of my anger. She suggested that I write letters that I never send. Here’s a couple that I wrote today. Note: I know these are pretty mean, but that’s kind of the point since none of the addressees will ever read these (maybe with the exception of  the comment lady, but I seriously doubt she’s coming back again). I would never actually send any of these.

*****

Dear Egomanic I Once Dated,
Guess what? I only dated you because you looked kinda like another guy I wasn’t over yet. Not sound logic, I know, but that’s not the point. The point is that the whole time I dated you I was still hung up on that other dude who, btw, was way more fun than you. I don’t know why I put up with your cloying, condescending, and presumptive “concern” that I was getting too close and that you didn’t want to hurt me. Bitch, I never even came close to falling for you. I also don’t know why I didn’t just punch you in the balls the first time I said, “I missed you,” and you replied, “thank you.”

I told you that I was in recovery for sex and love addiction because I still considered you a friend and wanted to let you know why I wasn’t around, not because I was trying to get back together with you. Since you are you, though, you assumed the later. Not sure why I didn’t see that coming. Part of me wishes that I had told you about this blog so I could sit back and enjoy all the extra page hits as you combed through each and every entry trying to find out how many times I had written about you. Spoiler alert: zero.

xoxo,
Imperfect

*****

Dear Bitch Who Commented on This Post,
I don’t like your tone so I’m not going to accept your comment. Since reading comprehension (along with spelling, punctation and grammar) obviously isn’t your forte, let me break it down for you. Number one, I haven’t been on a dating site in a year and a half as it is one of the behaviors I abstain from in sobriety. Please “read” (in quotes because I know you just skimmed) more than one post before you decide to give me a lecture in the comments section of my blog. Number two, I did meet him in public for our first date. Thanks for victim blaming and implying the whole thing was my fault, though.

Oh, and number three… Fuck You!

Take Care,
Imperfect

*****

Dear Mindy,
Your husband (you know, that dude you’re married too who used to be hot but now has a face only meth could love) cheats on you all every chance he gets. He invites strangers over to your house when you are out of town on work trips. He does drugs and has sex with them while your children are asleep upstairs. He cheats on you constantly, even when you are in town. Don’t you wonder where he goes all the time at night?

I know I shouldn’t be angry at you, and that your marriage is none of my business, but I am. Your husband lied to me repeatedly, swearing that he was divorced from you. He hurt me a great deal. I honestly don’t understand how you could not know what he’s up to. I feel a lot more compassion toward you than I feel anger, but I do feel anger. It doesn’t seem fair that he gets to  be such a creep and still be married to someone who is as beautiful and successful as you seem to be. Please do me yourself a favor and leave him.

Thanks,
Your husband’s former fuck buddy

*****

Dear Asshats Who Park on My Street and Take up Two Parking Spots,
Hey idiot, take a look around the neighborhood. Notice how every other car is parked just a few inches from the bumper in front of it? That’s cause there is limited street parking in this area (not sure how that escaped your notice) and everyone else who parked his or her car was considerate of that fact. Nothing breaks my heart more than coming home late at night and seeing your piece of shit car parked directly in front of my apartment building with half car space between both the car in front of you and the car behind you, forcing me to spend half an hour scouring the neighborhood for a space. Go suck a bag of dicks you fucking moron!

Cheers,
Your Friendly Neighbor

*****

Thanks for indulging me this writing exercise. Hope I didn’t offend any of you with my anger.

Happy Blogiversary!

A year ago today (actually a year and two days ago, but who’s counting?) I decided to start documenting my journey of recovery from sex and love addiction.

When I was a kid I always used to say that when I grew up I would be a writer. As I got older I would say things like, “some day I am going to write a memoir,” or “some day I want to write a novel.” Of course I was too busy in my addiction to ever do much writing. I used to think that once I met the perfect guy, then I would be able to focus on my writing, but until then I had to put all my time and energy into finding that soulmate. Deep down I still considered myself a writer. The thing is, though, writers write. Before I started this blog, I’d hardly written a thing in 6 or 7 years.

I have been writing here on a semi-regular basis for over a year. Not to toot my own horn, but I am so proud of myself! To some this might be a small accomplishment, but I would have never been able to stick to a writing project for a whole year when I was acting out. I wouldn’t have been able to stick to any kind of project that didn’t involve sex or dating.

I might not have hundreds of followers, or get overwhelmed with page hits on a daily basis, but I can now say that I AM a writer.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, followed and commented on my blog this past year. Your support and words of encouragement have helped me so much in my recovery. I am truly grateful for all of you!

Fourth Step and an Update

The longer that I go without posting anything here, the weirder it feels to write. Well not to write, per se, but to write for this blog. I’ve been writing a lot recently, but in a different format. I’m working on my fourth step, which, in case you are unfamiliar with the 12 steps, involves a lot of writing. 

I miss blogging, though. Writing for an audience is a much different experience than writing only for oneself. So instead of obsessing and procrastinating writing the perfect “I’m Back” or “I’m Still Here” or “Sorry I’m a Bad Blogger,” or whatever post, I’m just going to dust off the cobwebs and jump right back in with a quick update.

I’m still kicking it in recovery, working on building a bigger, richer life, and taking it one day at a time. I apologize if any of you, my dear readers, (hoping I still have dear readers and not just a bunch of tumble weed and random hits from people goggling pics of Paris Hilton) were worried that I was on a long craigslist/HC/Carson bender; quite the contrary.

As I’m writing my extremely thorough (read: fucking loooooooong as fuck) fourth step, I’m digging up a lot of history/shit/gems (all depends on how you want to look at it) I didn’t even realize were there. There are a lot of stories in my past that I completely forgot about. Mainly, because I wanted to forget them. I keep finding myself thinking, “I really should share this story on my blog,” but at the same time I am feeling more possessive of my memories that I ever did before. Maybe it’s because I’m starting to adopt some healthier boundaries. Maybe it’s because I’m afraid the more I share about myself, the more recognizable I will become. I don’t know why, but I am feeling a little shy.

I plan to write at least one blog entry a week. Maybe it will be a story from my past about some tool that done me wrong (and my part in it), or about something I’ve been holding on to since childhood, or maybe it will be an update like this. So keep checking back for more.