The Proposal

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of G No's proposal and my acceptance. What a difference a year has made. The anniversary of this ominous occasion was difficult for me. I'm wondering how it was for him.
I have decided to share with you, my reticent readers, the letter he gave me when he proposed. Why? I'm wondering if you can help me make sense of it all. The letter below sounds like it was written by a man who was deeply in love. Nine months later, he ran out the door. Three months later, I am still confused by what has happened. Re-reading the letter hasn't made this easier to reconcile.
Here goes:

Bright, beautiful Carrie,
I love you so much.
When I see you sleepy,
I just want to hold you or keep vigil at your side,
keep you safe.
When I see you happy,
talking away about family, friends or work,
I brighten. Everything is right.
When we're apart, I trace in my imagination the distant flush
along your cheek and smile:
I am a lucky man.
I offer you this sparkling ring and this love message on silver paper
because you deserve your fairy tale
and I will love you forever after
with deepest earnestness.
There is no difficulty in such a promise.
It is like wind through the grass:
natural,
effortless. What should be.
Yours,
G No

PS - Now is the flower-laden summertime. No ice age lasts forever. This is the YOC (year of Carrie)!

Wow. Well, we all know it didn't last forever. It was not effortless. This is not how the fairy tale was supposed to end. My questions are: Does he feel badly? Does he even remember?? Does he feel anything???
The year of Carrie? Not so far!
Deepest earnestness? Uh, no. Whoever this Earnest is, maybe I should try to meet him?!

Birthday Blues

Just when I thought I was making progress moving on from the serious split with G No, I had a nasty reminder of the past show up in my calendar last week. After suffering through a particularly horrendous week at work, I woke up on Friday morning (a beautiful, sunny day), and checked my calendar. All it took to shake my morning up were two words: 'G No's Birthday!' Yech.
I had been reminded of it off and on, when I wasn't totally distracted by my worrisome work situation. But all of a sudden, there it was. I thought about what I had done for him in the past and how we had celebrated before. I had, months previously, known that I would have done what I always do to celebrate his day: made arrangements for a fun night out, bought one of his favourite desserts and gotten him a thoughtful, heartfelt gift. Not this year.
The lesson to be learned here? Not that I would have thought about it then, but I know now: Go through your calendar, girls! Erase all reminders of the past - there will be no more celebrations with that person. Ultimately, I care and hope that he had a nice day (well, not as nice as it would have been had he been with me, of course... I wonder if he's missing his birthday blow job?!). But, for the love of brutal breakups, let's remove these wretched reminders so that we don't have to suffer the birthday blues!

I've Still Got It!

Phew!
One of the hardest parts of any break up is dealing with the horrible feeling of rejection. In my case, it was less of a rejection and more of G No being unable to operate at my level, but I digress... After he took off, I worried that I might not meet someone new. That I might not be a desirable partner for someone better.. That I might have lost my touch...
About one month ago, I went on my first date in over 2 years. I had performance anxiety, as I felt I had become a bit of an expert in my serial dating experience before meeting G No. Could I still be smart, funny and charming on a date? Could I still attract a man?? Could I achieve second date status??? I met up with a very nice guy. We had a lovely date and I was all of those things. I was exhausted that night, but he was impressed by my energy. Again, phew! Unfortunately, I did not feel a connection with him and when he asked for a second date, I had to turn him down. He was cool about it, so it ended up being a very nice first exposure back into the scene.
Two weeks ago, I went out with one of my bff's and we ended up at a banker bar in Cosmopolitan City. Within 5 minutes, two fabulous guys had asked to join us. We ended up having an amazing evening together. I was happy and relieved to know that I attracted a smart, funny, intelligent, successful and attractive man. Phew!
This weekend, we had another girls night out. We ended up at a fun bar that plays good music. I had consumed a few too many glasses of bubbly, but was approached and spent the evening talking to and dancing with a nice guy, whose name I unfortunately can't remember (yes, it was that kind of evening). I'm kind of hoping that he won't call simply because I don't remember his name or how we said goodbye...
I don't know if I'm ready to date seriously yet. It's still early days. I don't need a rebound romance right now, I need to take the necessary time to heal so that I will be ready for the real thing when it comes around. I am trying to spend my time with my fabulous friends and if men continue to show interest, then I'm open. My goal for the summer is to relax in the country on weekends and pursue interests, fitness and fun nights out during the week. If I can fit dating in, then so be it, but it is not a priority for me right now. Still, at the very least, I know I've still got it!

Fear Factor

Due to popular request from you, my faithful followers, I am going to address what I feel are the reasons why my former fiance, G No, left. I, along with many others (including professionals), have narrowed it down to 3 main factors:
Fear. Change. Guilt.
The fear? Perhaps of an unfamiliarity with living a new, happy, healthy, balanced way of life with the best possible partner.
The change? Going from single to engaged to homeowner to cohabitant... I know all about it, as I was going through it, too.
The Guilt? Of being happy, I suspect.

A few weeks ago, I came across an amazing article from The Daily Love by Mastin Kip (www.thedailylove.com). This article seemed to be written to help me understand what happened in this atrocious mess. Please see below for some revelatory reading:

Many times we wish and wish for the right person to come into our lives. We don’t seem to understand why it’s not working out with others. We end up in toxic, unloving relationships, and deep down know something better is out there.
The challenge is, when something better does come along, to not run away.
After years of disappointment, heart break and unhappy endings, it can be very easy to close down on real love. No matter what, don’t let that happen!
Remember, strength in the muscles of your body is created by your muscles being ripped apart, and then rebuilt. Your heart and your emotional intelligence and fitness operate the same way. It is easy to close down after you’ve been hurt. It’s easy to throw a wrench into real love when it comes. I understand it’s scary, but WHO CARES?
Move forward in spite of your fear. Move forward INTO the scariness of it all. Be courageous. Don’t let fear win. OPEN UP anyway. The risk of not opening, in the end, is far worse than the risk of opening.
Don’t let love pass you by. Don’t let fear win.
NO! Instead, let love win. Open up, even when, you are afraid. Open up, even when you are scared of getting hurt. Open up, even when you don’t know what’s going to happen.
Listen to me: LOVE WILL PASS YOU BY if you always choose the safe path.
I am not suggesting that you open up to the first person who comes along. No. I am not suggesting that at all. I am suggesting that when you have a connection with someone, when you feel it, when you are so scared of how much you feel it, go in the opposite direction of your fear. Do not be afraid of the love you feel.
KNOW THIS: The right person will meet you. The right person will show up. But they can’t if you don’t open.
Learn to value openness and rebuilding your heart more than safety. Don’t let the wounds of the past create a wounded future. No. It can be different. Love can be yours. But first you must be open to it. Learn how to be more loving from your past pain, not how to be more closed.
Don’t give up on love, no, give IN TO love!

Isn't it fabulous when your little brother gets married...

... before you do? Four months before you were supposed to get married?? And one month after your fiance has taken off??? Yep, that's right! A few weeks ago, I rsvp'd to my brother's wedding. The wedding that I had anticipated attending with G No was last night. Although I had found a suitable replacement date, it was too late to add a seat at the table, so I managed through it alone. I did, however, end up having 2 dates with me - my super supportive aunt and uncle. At the party, I soon found myself with a suitor, danced the night away and turned down a marriage proposal. All in a night's work! I wore a beautiful dress and got lots of attention. People couldn't stop commenting on it and saying what a mistake G No made. And how crazy he must be. Clearly.
My worry leading up to the big day was how I would handle the ceremony (I knew that the reception would be okay - I love a good party!). Just like watching the royal wedding last week, as soon as the bride started walking down the aisle, I burst into tears. It was hard. However, it was temporary and I was able to get through the rest of the ceremony without having a nervous breakdown. When in doubt, just show up looking fabulous. It distracts people and is a great ego boost!
First a royal wedding, then a royally difficult wedding. Is this making me stronger? Absolutely. At the very least, I can take comfort in the fact that I've got two down and none to go!

Royal Salt In The Wound

No, I did not get up intentionally to watch it. Hell, no! I knew I was going to have to be careful with this one. Unfortunately, I was woken at 3.30am due to the 3 glasses of wine consumed the night before during a celebration with coworkers. Well-earned wine. So, there I was, hoping to get back to sleep so that I wouldn't have to subject myself to the torture, but it was not meant to happen. At 5am, I began watching the royal affair.

I was doing well at first. I got goosebumps when Prince Charming arrived at the church. It was exciting. Historic. Compelling. It was thrilling when Kate got into the car and then arrived at the church. As she linked arms with her father and started to walk down the aisle, that's when the floods of tears began. For months after the royal engagement, I joked with my friends that Wills and Kate were stealing my thunder. Now, my former partner, who we will now refer to as G No, has stolen my wedding.

I had dreamed of the wedding we would have for the 8 months that we were engaged. I planned carefully so that it would be a celebration to be enjoyed by all. Sophisticated. Beautiful. Original. I was due to walk down the aisle of a meaningful church with my father in September. Not anymore. Let's face it: Ward isn't getting any younger. Will I have that opportunity again? I thought of seeing G No at the front of the church, ready to begin the 'happily ever after' part. Nope. We would celebrate our love with friends and family afterwards. Uhhhhhh, no.

The life that I saw for myself over the past year or so is no longer. My partner took off. He is the one who said in a letter he gave me after the proposal that "you deserve your fairytale." Guess what? This isn't it!? It's spring and weddings are in the air. My wedding is in the ground and I've been left with a royal mess!