So does this sound ideal or what? I am a woman with an old house. Always seem to be fixing it. I started dating a contractor. What's not to love? What draws me to him is not actually his chosen career, that is how I was introduced to him, what draws me to him is laughter and brightness. Because of that career there are times he problem solves on my house just out of habit. I am not so comfortable with that. It is not his baby. It is not his gateway to freedom from a empty marriage. It is not his calm and beauty all wrapped up in a cracked plain farmhouse. To me it is all that.
I left my husband with this house. I have had no decision making help so far. It is a loud knocking at my door of (perceived, delusional) self-sufficiency I think I have going on here to let someone share in this work - in this house. There are some minor(major) bumps for me in skipping down a relationship path with a basket of cookies for grandma. One, I may have an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with my house. Two, I may have some boundaries that are tough to cross.
For starters, let's say for the sake of argument, I might be a tad bit independent- maybe even fiercely independent, although with a strange dependence streak. I might have equity - equality issues. And, last but not least, there might be some major trust issues left behind from my marriage. Nothing highly unusual for a woman who has lived a life.
So, accepting help on something like working on a simple issue for my house is a huge quandary for me. I vowed in the beginning I was not utilizing his skillset other than as verbal assistance, and even then only after months of seeing him. Heck, maybe years. The focus was that he is going to be having meals with me, walking, talking, driving, dancing... not managing my home repair list. My house is an eternal money pit. I could be doing something on it everyday. I still have not replaced sections of bug-chewed fir flooring. It is not fully painted. I haven't changed out porch supports for ones with less insect holes. There is that upstairs bathroom that is not quite done. On and on. Yes, it would be "easy" to hand over my to-do list and follow his lead. But it would be crippling. (And bottom line is I won't do it.) That is not equitable. In my world, there have never been things "that men do" and things "that women do". Maybe things "that men do easier" and likewise for women, but a lot of that is cultural. I know for many people this is crazy talk. They cannot imagine their lives not interwoven with another life where reliance, dependence, being taken care of --are strengths to a relationship, not code words to run like hell. I get that. They are not necessarily bad things. We are products of our environment. I was raised by a single mom. A very competent intelligent educated woman. She led a very self-directed life, with a focus on me. It was a great environment to grow up in. There was a large support group of friends that supported her. Bottom line though, is she taught me to be independent. Do it myself. Or learn it. And my mother being a librarian I had access to a gateway to all knowledge - books. Books can only do so much. They don't drive you to a hospital, help you build stalls, drink tea and knit with you, make you laugh when you want to dive into darkness. So I am learning balance. Which is a great thing to learn.
There is this other thing. The thing I am a bit out of practice about. On how to share my life. How to be a partner. I think there can be a bit of trading off of skills that can happen. My inclination is to line them up on ledger paper in clean debit and credit columns. I know this is not practical. But taking the subjective and making it objective with maybe a bit of logic thrown in is very appealing. But I am well aware this is my fantasy life thinking it calls the shots.
And, lastly, for the record, I am just babbling. I am not alone in the wilderness on this, there is actually another person involved in this relationship who verbalizes excruciatingly well. So even if I think I get to make all these pseudo rules? I don't. So voila. I get to share my life. I get to challenge my independence issues daily. I'll let you know if I start grinding my teeth. So far, so good, we seem to be negotiating just fine. Although I am still a bit iffy on the electrical.... but the everlovin' cool thing is that he will talk to me for as long as it takes until my concerns and red flags about whatever I am winding up about have been allayed. And that right there is what will keep me joyful.
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