Thoughts

I know that my blogging has fallen by the wayside lately. Let me explain:

Every morning between Monday and Thursday, I get up at 4:30 so that I can leave the house at 5:15 to catch the van that takes me out to the mine site. I work 4 ten-hour days. These 10 hours are sandwiched in between a commute of an hour each way so I’m away from home for at least 12 hours every day and more like 12 and a half. By the time I get home each day, I really want to do absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, having an apartment comes with responsibilities such as kitchens that need to be cleaned and dishes that have to be done. Also, I have to feed myself. So everything else just kind of fades away, especially something that I do purely for pleasure, such as blogging.

I’ve had an experience lately that really moved me and started me thinking. To sum up a very long story, I very recently ended a friendship that I felt was turning into an emotionally abusive relationship. The part of this that really got me thinking was the helplessness that I felt when thinking about ending the friendship. I knew exactly how this guy would respond to everything I tried to tell him and I felt like there was no way to end it. It was terrifying to feel this way and also to feel so completely out of control. Luckily, I wasn’t even in a relationship with this guy yet. I did some research on abusive relationships and they all agree that the feelings of helplessness and being out of control only escalate as the relationship gets more serious. These feelings get so bad that the woman feels as though she cannot leave the relationship. The thing is, there is nothing tangible about this abuse so there is very little that others, especially those with authority such as the police, can do about it.

So I guess the whole point is just to get you thinking. I had this experience and it really opened my eyes. How can you reach out and empower the women around you?