The first step to avoiding avoidance is avoiding avoidance of admittance of the problem

[muckefuck]

caitalainn is causin' trouble again. She's been posting lately about her avoidance issues, which--along with independent but relevant events--has spurred me to examine my own. Turns out, they are rather large. I can see a pattern emerging of not asking certain questions if I fear the answers will force me to question my basic assumptions, significantly change my behaviour, or possibly admit that a long-term modus vivendi is not really possible. Much better to ignore it all and go plodding on in my happy-go-lucky way. After all, I'm less stressed and unhappy now than I've been in years, so I must be doing something right, right?

Not necessarily.

So what am I avoiding? Let's start with the obvious. I've mentioned to many people that I'm looking to buy and move into a new place this year. I did this intentionally to create social pressure. I like to claim I have no shame, but I really will feel chagrinned if I don't follow through on my plans. Right now, I'm avoiding getting pre-approved for a mortgage since it is the first serious step in any modern-day house hunt.

I'm avoiding going back to school because I really, really, really don't want to. I want to be treated as if I had a professional degree that I don't have, which is not realistic. I know I know how to do the work, other people know this too, but there are hoops everyone has to jump through and they won't go away just because I want them to. Fortunately, I've convinced myself that I can't even think of school until I'm settled in a new place, so I can continue to procrastinate on this a bit longer than the house thing. Go me!

I'm avoiding dealing with some sticky relationship issues. Again, I've got the house as an excuse. monshu won't even discuss living together until I've got a decent, well-kept place of my own. As long as I avoid getting one, I can avoid the possibility that the discussion might reveal some fundamental underlying incompatibilities (mainly related to my avoidance behaviour) that we've been successfully dodging for years now.

I've got other relationship issues I've been avoiding and I don't even have an excuse for those beyond my own pigheadedness. And since many of my friends read this, let me tell y'all that there's no need for speculation: Nearly all of you are affected in one way or another.

That's enough for now, isn't it? Maybe if I go to sleep, some of these will have magically evapourated by morning...

Comments

[prilicla.livejournal.com]

My memory of the whole condo-buying thing is pretty cloudy by now, but I do know that there was no danger of strolling into the closing without any idea of whether we'd have the money we were promising the seller. Basically, we had to arrange a mortgage during the period that other contingencies (the inspection, the lawyer's approval, and possibly some others that I don't remember) were being resolved. Of course, if something had gone wrong, the deal might have fallen through, and a seller in a hot market probably would have blown us off in favor of a pre-approved buyer. So as bunj says, it's certainly a good idea to get pre-approved if you can make yourself do it.