For some odd reason, I am letting a 22 year old get the best of me this day after our lengthy conversation. The two regulars in my life are guys who are still figuring things out, and occasionally we will sit down to $5 Little Caesar's pizza and dvd nights that late after turn into discussions at times lengthy and thought provoking.
It was so hot last night, I had just a slice. And then we watched Sweeney Todd, and if you can handle the gruesome GRUESOME elements, it's quite funny and clever and very very good. I watched through my fingers, the way I do and my boy- friends laughed at me, the way they do, and said things like "did you see the blood just spatter against the screen!" like they are ten.
Two movies later, can't remember the first one's name right now, the youngest of the two, Joshua, decided to give me a hard time about the mechanic. Why I was considering "this" guy for my life? What did I hope to get out of it? What was I thinking? And I argued that I want to be challenged. I want that challenge of intimacy. I've been bad at it in the past, and I think I have grown a lot and I think I am ready again. And he said that I made it sound like a science project rather than a relationship with another person. And I stopped short...for a minute, but I countered that of course, I, like 70 billion other humans have a hard time thinking someone could really care for me - with all my failings and so of course I would make it sound like a "project", it's protective. And he said that he didn't understand what I was looking for? Especially in this guy. And I said maybe I just want a boyfriend...it could actually be that simple. But, he said I was stereotyping myself and he thought that was absurd because I'm "not like all the other women" he knows and he would never stereotype me that way. And I said, SO? Why do I have to be different? And he said he thought I was just "bored" and looking for something new and when I got this relationship (there's no relationship up for bid...it's a mild crush sort of thing) I wouldn't want it and then I would use its demise to hurt myself, saying I wasn't good enough for it in the first place.
This was a one hour, very intense conversation. And I left it thinking, could I really be that cold? But, first of all, I don't get bored. There are way too many things to think about for me to ever get bored. It's not a state of being that I would tolerate, let's put it that way. So, I've never said I was bored...well since grade school when it could be cool to be bored and I may have said it then, can't remember. I would never insert a human heart to cure my boredom. And my friend knows this about me. I'm not sure where this was coming from other than that this man-mechanic is very different from me. He is. But, I like men that are smart about how to fix things and are strong about how they do things and he seems this way to me. It's like my dad, who is quite brilliant, but will never entertain the conversations I want to have. I look to friendships for the philosophical and intellectual stimulation that I need. I am drawn to a more practical guy...because frankly, it's opposite of me and seems to fit me well because of it.
Am I ready to be real with someone? Who knows. And I guess that is what's got me goosey about our conversation. I mean, I think I am at a better place to let someone in to my life...but who can say for certain, until you test the water. Right?
It might be time to open another fortune cookie....
Scattered things
Small revelations of the sea's mysteries.
Something that loves a dirt road
Scene from dog walking....
About Me
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- Southern girl, dog lover, reader, writer, secret-keeper, melody hummer, and good friend.
7 comments:
Not to trivialise your conversation, but there might be a touch of overthinking here.
Friends usually bring a little bit clarity into things we would never see otherwise, but sometimes when they tell me something perfectly reasonable and I get that hollow feeling in my gut, I know they don't know what I'm talking about. (Not too sure if that means denial, but let's say I'm right. For now.)
It's good that you took the time to think and rationalise your thoughts and actions, but I do think that sometimes when your heart is ready to take the plunge, no amount of thinking stops anyone. Including fortune cookies.
Well, that was tremendously well put. Thank you. :)
I was going to put it much less tactfully and say, essentially, that young Joshua needs to step off.
That works too, Jane. :)
I purrrsonally like the taste of fortune cookies..........
Who doesn't?
I agree that Joshua needs to step off a bit, but I chalk that up to being 22. I thought I knew it all then, too.
But their energy can be useful to us old fogies, in that they make us defend our principles and reasoning and make sure they are sound.
When people mention to me that they're not sure they're "ready" to be parents or to get married, I usually toss off the rejoinder, "My son is 12, and I'm still not ready."
You're never ready for events like this-you can never truly be prepared for the hurricane that being close to another person can be.
And I try not to think of "science" as a pejorative. I try to remind people that science is nothing more than systematic thinking about things. It can't hurt to hypothesize, gather evidence, and evaluate what you've learned, even when you're talking about matters of the heart.
True. All true.
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