HAPPY FRIDAY!

Saint Rita of Cascia by Pedro Antonio Fresquis

Hello!

Hope your world is going well. Mine is just dandy.

I’ve spoken with a couple friends who actually made New Year’s resolutions and … * sigh * … the resolutions aren’t sticking for one reason or another.

I, personally, walked away from doing the whole New Year’s resolution thing quite a while back. I’m just not good at keeping them.

Always seemed like a good idea at the time. But then I had to admit that I failed. So I don’t set myself up for it anymore. Ha! You?

Pictures below

#1 Shadow play wave all bundled up on my morning walk

#2 Heart Art of wire and beads I made with a pair of pliers and hands molding/shaping. Fun little afternoon project.

#3 Graffiti art on train cars as I wait at the tracks for them to pass. I know the artists shouldn’t be doing it – but for whatever reason, I am intrigued. Always makes me wonder where the art happened. How far away? Such huge pieces created with a couple of spray cans of paint.

#4 Stained glass lamp. Circa 1981. By moi. It lives at my mom’s home. There was a time – way back in the time machine – when I self-taught me to do stained glass pieces. This is the last known survivor of my stained glass art venture. I like seeing it when I visit.

INTRODUCING Annie Lane. A wonderful addition to Daymaker Readable Art’s 5 for Friday and Top of the Morning episodes. Rick Newcombe, CEO of Creators Syndicate said, “What made the Ann Landers column unique was the quality of letters and the lively no-nonsense answers that included seeking out experts. We have received hundreds of submissions of advice columns over the years and Dear Annie is the best by a country mile.” I hope you enjoy reading her columns as much as I do.

Burger Time! Assembly. It’s a really good, hearty burger. Maybe you might wanna make it this weekend.

Music play list. 5 songs of kick-back time. Hope you have a few to give it a listen.

Thanks for being here. You are Daymakers!

QUICK QUESTION

WHOM WOULD YOU CALL IN AN EMERGENCY?

DEAR ANNIE
BY ANNIE LANE

AFTERMATH OF DATING A NARCISSIST

Dear Annie:
After dating a guy who turned out to be a narcissist, my question is, how can I heal? I’ve tried everything, and I’ve even felt like I’m over it and I’m OK, but then I have my days . It’s like grieving.

I fell in love with this man, and feel like I let my guard down way to soon, only to be disappointed. Yes, he pursued me heavily, and it’s like after supporting me through nursing school, by the time it was close to my graduating he started to become distant. I am so depressed off and on. I feel like I lost my best friend. What would you suggest?

I’m no longer interested, plus, he has moved on. This is so not like me to let something like this get to me or have me feeling down. I feel like I lost myself just simply trying to understand, and then I tell myself that he served his purpose in my life, and if it was meant to be, it would have been. How do I heal, and how do I get over this heartbreak? I never in my life thought I would allow someone access to me and not see this coming or notice the red flags. Please help.

~Brokenhearted

Dear Brokenhearted:
You have no control over how your ex-boyfriend treated you, but you have total control over how you respond to it. If he was a true narcissist, he was not your best friend. He might have pretended to be your best friend, but that is not a true, authentic friend. He probably is incapable at this point in his life of being a true friend to anyone because he is not a true friend to himself.

Allow yourself time to grieve your relationship. It is understandable. It is OK to get sad off and on. Keep doing things for yourself that made you happy before him. Stay close to family and friends, and lean on them for comfort. There is strength in vulnerability. The sooner you recognize that, the sooner you will be able to move through the sadness.

Once you have some distance and time away from the relationship, try to get curious and ask yourself what you liked and didn’t like in the relationship so that you can learn from the old relationship what you don’t want in your new relationship. And don’t rule out talking to a good therapist. At the very least you will stop beating yourself up for not spotting this guy’s personality earlier.