Dating Makes Me Crazier

Ok, so things have turned around with the guy I was seeing. The "things in common" part was already there, in spades. But I was worried about the physical, sexual part. I needn't have worried. Though it took longer than I'm used to, once we finally got an open-ended bit of time with privacy, things fell into place. And now he even has his own pseudonym - "Sweetie." It's a Doctor Who joke. He likes it.

No, now the problem is back to being what is usually is - me. All this dating stuff is making me feel crazier than usual. BPD is a disorder of emotional dysregulation, leading to, among other things, unstable interpersonal relationships. I've been doing pretty good, with the therapy and everything. Work is going well. My family relationships are going well. My friendships are mostly going well. But I haven't really had to deal with a 'real' romantic relationship, which are what have given me the biggest opportunity to create a hot mess. So what are some of my biggest problem areas and how am I already creating a hot mess of things?

Disclosure - I think it probably going without saying that I don't really know how to keep anything to myself. I mean, come on, just read this blog. I'm also not so good knowing when is the right time to tell somebody something. Being culturally trained by romantic comedies, I believe that our relationships would all work, or at least get started, if we'd be uber-honest. So I go out on that limb, in case the other person is holding back. Of course, most of the time I end up with my ass flapping in the wind up there all by myself, with the other person thinking that I came on too strong or am going too fast or just generally freaked the fuck out. 

Yep, already did this one. Though I was fine with leaving things non-exclusive, non-facebook'd til he was ready the first night we were together, particularly because I was planning on taking advantage of the non-exclusive while I still could. But after therapy and a weird meditation, I felt I shouldn't be taking advantage of the non-exclusivity (more on that later) and, even further, that I wanted to at least "have the talk." And after several drinks, I told him so. Obviously, that didn't go so great. He's still around, but he's not my boyfriend. 

Cheating - So all my faithful readers know that I've been less than faithful in past relationships, which is why I started pursuing open relationships. Of course, prefer their LTRRs to be monogamous, so eventually I'm going to run into that problem again. Part of what complicates it even more is that most of my friends are exes and, with some of them at least, being physical in some way, whether that's cuddling while watching tv or sleeping together, is the biggest way I know how to show and receive their caring.

This has already come up as well. After Sweetie said he didn't feel being intimate meant we needed to "have the talk," I brought up my problems with fidelity and that I have bigger problems when it comes to exes. And that Moneypenny is coming into town next weekend and staying with me. Also, that there was a slim possibility TyRoy might need a break from his girlfriend and be coming over this weekend. He seemed fine with it, but he's pretty affable all around. Of course, my therapist had a different take on it and now I feel completely confused about the whole thing. I don't believe that "doing something romantic/sexual with someone else" equals "hurting the primary partner." Of course, a big part of that depends on if you actually hurt your partner. Except he hasn't actually tried to lay claim to that, kinda turned away the offer, and I can't for the life of me get him to answer whether or not it would hurt him if I was with someone else. Maybe he doesn't even know himself, but either way, I can't get him to really say anything. And, despite what my therapist (and everyone else) thinks, I don't really see a good reason to not be romantic or sexual with someone else if it's not hurting anyone. 

Taking things slow - I honestly don't even know what this means. Whenever anyone says this, I just think one or both of those people must not like each other very much or very strongly, because if you like each other and strongly, then you'd be spending a bunch of time together and you'd be together. "Taking things slow" just feels like people think there should be arbitrary limits placed on the relationship, no matter what the people in the relationship feel like doing. Also, i always thought that it was sorta assumed that people disappeared for awhile when they got into a relationship. Yes, I do feel like I probably got a bit too lost in the beginning of previous relationships, but I feel like some level of disappearing into the other person is bound to happen.

I've already explained some of the problems I've run into with this. I was frustrated that the physical/sexual part of the relationship took longer than I was used to getting started. I'm now feeling more in the place to "have the talk" because ....well, I feel like I know enough to be in something more settled with him, not what "non-exclusive, non-facebook'd" means to me, while still getting to know him more. I'm also wrestling with trying not to spend too much time together, but we have very little time where we are both free and can hang out together so I naturally want to spend as much of that time as possible having sex with him, er, I mean, hanging out with him and getting to know him. I just feel like I got this shiny new toy and I want to play with him as much as possible when I have the opportunity. I mean, he doesn't even require batteries. But us BPD people tend to get more lost in relationships than most, to the extent of losing ourselves completely, and then when shit gets real we suddenly switch over from thinking the person is amaz-balls to thinking they are the worst person in the history of bad people. I would also be really easy to let everything else I've worked for fall by the wayside to spend more time with someone I really like, but I don't want to lose that progress.

So right now I'm just massively conflicted and most of what I do or want to do is making me feel more crazy and more dysregulated than usual. A part of me misses fucking when I wasn't going to have a LTRR with that person.