I recently read Gary Chapman’s best-selling book, The 5 Love Languages. In it, he lists what he believes are the ways people give and receive love and affection.

He says that some people need to receive ‘Words of Affirmation,’ such as, “I really appreciate you taking out the garbage, babe,”or, “You look beautiful in that dress.”

The road to healing from Codependency is filled with a lot of twists and turns and sometimes deep, deep pot holes.

Back in the early 2000’s I met a man, who would spark the most pivotal time in my life,  my long-term Narcissist. We were really young and as many girls dream of, I wanted to start planning for our own home and a family. I had the guy, though he was never quite what I wanted or needed him to be.

I dislike the term Empath. You see it everywhere. It’s supposed to signify a special mystical talent that makes you better than most at reading people and emotions.

Do you think that love is easy, or do you think love is hard, maybe even impossible?

Many of us struggle with love, mainly because we were never taught how. Some of us learned that love has conditions – you do X, Y and Z for me and I’ll give you some scraps of my attention or affection, which sets us up for serious problems down the road in our romantic relationships. Other’s were taught that love is pain and as adults, we go seeking pain and calling it love. While others still, were taught that they weren’t good enough or worthy of love and they’ll always find partners who will make them feel that way.

I took a month off from blogging so that I could focus on getting a new project off the ground and at the same time I moved to a new city an hour and a half away. The move was stressful, as most moves are and I left a job I had been at for many, many years.

My heartache was tangible and the air was thick with loneliness, as the sound of laughter flooded in through my bedroom window. I was trying to cope with my new life alone, no spouse, no parents, no family and no friends, when my new neighbor’s merriment permeated the silence.

Limited Contact: A state of partial interaction, that one partakes in for certain occasions, with abusive or toxic family members, whereby one is able to remain in contact and on their own terms with those that they would otherwise have no contact with.