Dandelion Town

I’ve had right about enough of people who insist on being Energy Drains, especially if they turn the conversation about it back on me and my faults. I refuse to be chastised for knocking a Drain’s chair out before they can settle in, or for setting the damn thing on fire to make them leave.

This illness has done one thing for me: nearly erased my issues about setting boundaries. I’m so empathetic, and the thought of hurting somebody’s feelings used to give me such anxiety. I could confront people, but only after a lot of psyching myself up. Now that I’m in so much pain I sometimes have trouble putting sentences together, their feelings matter a whole lot less.

The well-intentioned are only one step further from being ejected. Good intentions are like dandelions. They’re kinda pretty for a while, but when it comes down to it they’re pests. The (possibly absent) subtext of your actions or words doesn’t matter if the recipient doesn’t appreciate your time spent on them.

Don’t get mad at a person wearing a cast when they don’t laugh or even smile after you call them “Hopalong” in an effort to make a joke and generate small talk. You are not funny, not even a little. You should know they will probably take great joy in your discomfort in trying to extract yourself from their airspace.