Dear Cary,
I'm troubled.
At long last, my therapist did something I sensed she meant to do a long time ago -- assign me to read a book on verbally abusive relationships. I suspect that, despite her dissimilation, she expects me to find myself there, in the role of the victim of verbal and psychological abuse.
And I do.
And yet on another level, I question the whole idea. The book contains no citations. It could well be cut from whole cloth, as they say -- an angry woman's fantasy of how men are, how men act. Even if that characterization is a straw man (womyn?), it is a tempting one, especially when the self-help verbiage gets a little much. But where do we draw the line? I seem to be standing on a line, on one side of which is mutually unproductive communication that can be resolved through talking and counseling and new approaches, and on the other is a crowd shouting "Why haven't you DTMFA?"
Since I have been with him, I have gradually given up my passions -- my theater, my academic field, my crafts, my gym membership. Only those things that he finds acceptable -- the hobbies, the reading, the baking (but never on hot days) -- remain. He wished to own a house. We own a house. I cook, clean, launder, mow the lawn, call the repairmen, run the errands, pay the mortgage. I have been working for seven years under the assumption that these are all choices I was involved in, decisions I made. And yet I daydream of a cozy studio apartment where I am alone and everything -- the belongings, the music, the choices -- is mine. Of going where the jobs in my field are, instead of staying where they aren't. Of dallying with women, and perhaps men, with beautiful souls.
I take pills. I go to therapy. He goes back to school. I applaud this -- it is a sensible decision that will lead to a stable job in his field -- even as I resent his freedom to do so. I make a point of telling him that I wish to return to school (yet again) once he finds a job. He is wholly supportive of this, he says -- once the loans are paid off, once we are no longer in debt. Despite my thrift, the loans pile up. When I fail to manage the money as he directs, I am chastised. Every cent I spend is one that cannot be used to pay off those loans and buy my freedom from menial jobs that siphon my self-confidence and passion, but which pay for the therapy to deal with the panic attacks and crying jags that primarily manifest themselves when he's around.
And yet, and yet, and yet.
There is a long and storied history of psychological instability in my family, on both sides, which has led me to believe that my problems were internal and self-contained. There is also (as I learned recently, yet have known all along) a long and storied family history of controllers and controllees, criticizers and objects of criticism. I am not sure what his family has given him, aside from a Midwestern up-by-the-bootstraps aversion to psychoanalysis of any kind.
A dear friend says that she had these concerns before she knew him, from my tone, from my phone calls. She met him, and "[saw] how he looks at me," the love in his eyes, and her fears were assuaged. I know that he loves me, from that same look, those same heartbreakingly beautiful smiles. I also know that he expects me to read his mind, then tells me that I am the one who needs to fix my reactions so that we can communicate -- who drives me to tears with his inconsistencies, then allows me the solace of his embrace.
It is not that I fear to be alone or independent -- aside from the annoyance of dividing things up, the prospect seems inviting. But the prospect of remaking myself in my own image, of reclaiming the me that was, is more complicated. And there are so many things that I would miss. Friends, games, holidays, my mother-in-law, even the house that taunts me with its constant breakings and dirtiness. Him, the man who has been so good for me in so many ways, who rescued me from an equally dead-end (though less malignant) relationship, whom I've shared so many adventures with. Who I'm not even convinced is aware of what he's doing.
And yet things cannot remain as they are.
Angel in the Details
Dear Angel,
I am going to try to be direct. You know that's not my style. But still.
I suggest you leave this guy.
There is only one twist: You make your new life first.
I basically agree with the DTMFA approach -- with one caveat.
The caveat is that you begin not by disrupting your current life but by building your new one. If you leave without trying to rebuild your life first, you may find yourself alone in a new place, isolated from friends and family, without a solid network, without a life plan, having just gone through a traumatic breakup, flooded with emotion, and you may, under that stress, be more prone to fall back into your old pattern of finding a rescuer, a controller, a caretaker. You may slip back into the same situation with someone else. So I advise taking a gradual approach to building a new life so that when you leave him, you have a new life to step into. Work to develop new behaviors and reinvigorate abandoned passions.
For instance, these things you mention that you have given up -- your theater, your academic field, your crafts, your gym membership: Put these things back in your life one by one. When you begin doing this, he may object. Keep in mind that you are leaving him anyway.
It may help to set a date and write it in your calendar, say, six months. In six months you are leaving. During that time you tackle the many concrete tasks of rebuilding your life. This includes looking at new places to live and working out your budget. As you pursue this project, at a certain point -- and this may happen sooner than you expect -- it may become impossible to continue to live with him. Your positive action may force buried conflicts to the surface. He may decide that he is divorcing you. He may become unstable. He may threaten you. If he is a certain kind of man, when his control over you is threatened, he may become dangerous. So, while laying the groundwork for an orderly departure, you need to also be ready to leave quickly if things get to that.
The point is this: To the extent possible, don't act precipitously to your own detriment. Instead, begin putting your life together and try to leave at a time that is best for you.
Now, regardless of his objections, you may find that you yourself just can't build this new life while still living with him. You may feel paralyzed, blocked, unable to act. If so, OK. Leaving him might be a precondition to putting your life together. That's OK. Discuss this with your therapist and make a plan. But please do what you can to prepare first. Give it a try. Take what steps you can to reconnect with your theater, your academic life, your crafts and your gym first. Do what you can.
Just so we're clear: Yes, I think you should leave. DTMFA or whatever. Just, to the extent possible, prepare first.
The Best of Cary Tennis
"Since You Asked," on sale now at Cary Tennis Books: Buy now and get an autographed first edition.
Or go to Amazon and get it cheaper! (But not signed.) Or ask for it at your local bookstore. Tell them it's distributed by IPG.
And be sure to sign up for the Cary Tennis Newsletter.
What? You want more advice?
Shares