Using writing, and meditation, and ice cream, and reading, and dreams,

and a whole lot of other tools to rediscover who I am,

after six years living with a man with OCPD.



Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Crazy on You

No, not a theme of my life (anymore!), just calling attention to the new PAGE I've added to this blog, containing The Crazy Rules - Greatest Hits.  Just click on the link above this post that says "Crazy Rules" and you, too, can be enlightened as to How The World Should Be Run.

Being a Hero works great in fiction... not so well in real life.
Even when you have the superpowers granted by OCPD.

As to those who wonder how I'm getting along with my new girlfriend...  so far, so good.  My New Year's weekend wasn't particularly exciting or dramatic, and I was perfectly happy with that.  Did some eating, sleeping, champagne drinking, reading and writing... not necessarily in that order.  Went with a friend to a service at her Buddhist ashram... interesting.  I enjoyed it and will probably go again, but I know already it's not going to be my new "thing."

Watched an excellent if creepy movie with my friend (Winter's Bone,) and yes, speaking of creepy, thought about ex-bf a bit.  Sometimes I missed him.  I would see a vision of his face looking happy, or tender, and feel a bit gushy inside.  Sometimes I felt bad/guilty, certain he's terribly hurt and missing me - and then reminded myself, boundaries, girlfriend, boundaries.  Maybe he is feeling hurt.  Maybe he's angry (that was certainly a go-to emotion for him when we were together.)  Maybe he's totally indifferent.  I don't know what's going on inside his head and in any case, it's really none of my business.

When I thought about ex-b-f in terms of how I felt/feel - I was relieved, not just to have last weekend, but all my weekends, stretching in front of me to do with as I please.  Without the pressure/dread of having to prepare emotionally to Spend Time Together.  To steel myself against the looks of disgust as I did yet another thing that broke his Rules.  All in all though, as far as everything I thought over the course of the weekend... ex-bf did not occupy the largest part of my thoughts. 

Mostly, I was working on and taking care of me.  And though I plan to (and my tarot reading suggests I should ) continue sharing my accumulated "wisdom," (such as it is) and experiences that I learned from living with and studying OCPD, it's more from a viewpoint of understanding how living with it affected me, how it changed my thinking.  As opposed to where I was a year ago, thinking if I could only really, really understand the Perfectionist brain, I could help b-f get better.

I'm not suggesting, if you live with or love somebody with OCPD, that you should leave.  Only you know if/when that is a right decision for you.  It might be the absolute worst thing in the world you could do.

For me, it was the right decision.  I left when it felt right, and I ended the relationship when it felt right to me.  Some of my friends might think my decision was long overdue, but I had to do it on my own time schedule, when I was ready.

Photo via US National Archives

I know I need to keep picking apart this whole situation for a while, until I truly understand how I got into a relationship with somebody with a PD, what in myself made me vulnerable to it and why I missed (or sped right past) the warning signs.

Because I don't want to do this again.  I plan to stick to my girlfriend, and be very, very careful when I think about dating again - not until 2012, at the earliest - so that I don't end up leaving someone with OCPD and hooking up with a Borderline Personality, or a Narcissist.

I think it'll take not just knowing the hows and whys in my head, but healthy practice.  Like driving a car - at first you are conscious of every little action, and then it becomes habit; you get in, buckle your seatbelt, adjust the mirrors, start the car, begin texting (jk!)  I want taking care of me in healthy ways to become automatic, something I do out of habit (instead of my old pattern, charging in as RescueWoman to save and fix the totally f%#ked-up.) 

Capes don't really suit my body type anyway.

If you have comments about the Crazy Rules page,
you'll have to post 'em HERE as you can't there
Or, if you haven't already, go to Free Forums and post your own.

Comments (10)

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I love the crazy rules page- you got to laugh or you'll cry. What is it about using toilet roll that drives OCPDers mad? I refuse to be dictated as to how many sheets I can use! What about you can only speak during the commmercials, even if it's an emergency?
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
You know, I believe in using enough TP to get the job done. Sometimes it takes more, sometimes it takes less, but, silly me, it's not something I obsess over.

Honestly, has anyone gotten rich by rationing toilet paper?

And yes, YOU can only speak during commercials... but if it's a program that you're totally absorbed in and the other person is not, the Rules may change.
EarlyGirl's avatar

EarlyGirl · 676 weeks ago

I never knew how multi-faceted the issue of toilet paper was until I married my husband. Stupid me, I would just quickly grab something off the shelf. I was so blind to texture, sheet size, roll size, roll width, packaging, (paper or plastic? grouped or individual?) cost per unit, recycled paper content, etc. But now I have been shown the light. As I should. Because spending a great deal of time selecting toilet paper is reasonable and proper. Anyone who is intelligent would agree.

Seriously, I LOVE this website. It's so validating.

BTW, I didn't see any mention of going to a restaurant and spending half an hour to 45 minutes examining the menu so that you know all the choices and are prepared to make the perfect choice.
1 reply · active 676 weeks ago
Well, I admit, I personally prefer the more expensive, softer kind, to the wood chip/sandpaper stuff that is cheapest. I figure, my bottom's worth it.

Restaurants are their own bottomless pits. Picking a restaurant? What kind? Would it be too busy that night of the week, that time of night? What about the table - too close or too far from the kitchen? xD
crazy rules

Must park in the farthest parking space even one might get raped or killed in a bad neighborhood. Someone might ding your door.

Must leave all wrapping on new items to remind you they are new (even after 4 years) Brand new truck that is two years old still has the sign on the glove box.
1 reply · active 657 weeks ago
Because you never know when you might want to return that two year old truck!
OMG!!! your rules had me rolling laughing while at the same time doing major facepalms!!!! I have not one, but TWO OCPDer's. My SO and his MothER!!! apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!!! She is worse than he is, both suck me dry! A few more 'rules' I can add: t-shirts must be folded with sleeves in (like at the store) and placed on HiS closet chair so that he can properly place the newly clean shirts underneath the already clean shirts so that each shirt is used equally and in order. shirts last longer that way apparently. also: when stepping foot in mother's house, take shoes off and place on towel beside door. immediately put on the knitted slippers so that foot marks do not happen upon her floors. Do NOT for the love of whatever spiritual being you suscribe to EVER eat a meal without a YeLLow cloth napkin placed square upon your lap (her fave color of course). I have many more....
your blog is actually helping me understand both of them and allowing me to Not run screaming with the kids at this point.
1 reply · active 601 weeks ago
What really helps one understand it's a disorder is that it seems to be planetwide. That is, the people who come up with crazy rules do it whether they are in the US or Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark... I've even read case studies featuring a woman in Africa. If it was "just the way So-and-So was raised" there wouldn't be so many IDENTICAL kinds of behaviors when cultures and families are so very different.
Fantastic site. After a 28 year marriage to someone with OCPD, I left feeling used and abused. Many of the crazy rules applied. I found the anger/withdawal of attention and verbal abuse/denigration of me and my family the most hard to take. I waited until our two daughters left home and then I went too.
The diviorce was similarly stressful with her knowing the correct way to divorce of course! That involved exploiting me as much as possible. So glad to relax and slowly let go of the stress. Thanks again.
1 reply · active 558 weeks ago
So sorry you went through that, but glad you're on the other side now. Being free can feel AMAZING, can't it?

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