ehowton: (Default)
2025-06-22 04:17 am
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Caregiver


January 2023 I did a deep dive into Savior Complex (White-Knight Syndrome) and discovered I adhere to exactly zero of that pathology (it's way too much work for the level of effort I'm willing to put into something like that). Nonetheless it keeps coming up as a possible trigger for my emotional connection to others - or at least something much less severe in its orbit. This has been mentioned by my lovers, my therapist, and most recently, my daughter. Subsequently, I took a look at adjacent pathology.

"Caretaker" is too close to Savior Complex with a lot of the same pre-requisites I don't meet. Caregiver however seems to be more closely aligned:

  • Positive aspects of caregiving in relationships:

    • Strengthens bonds: Providing support during challenging times can deepen intimacy and create a sense of shared experience.

    • Fosters empathy and compassion: Caregiving can cultivate understanding and patience within the relationship.

    • Offers a sense of purpose: Caring for a partner can provide a sense of fulfillment and meaning.


  • Potential challenges of caregiving in relationships:

    • Relationship imbalance: If one partner consistently takes on a caregiving role without reciprocity, it can lead to resentment and dissatisfaction.

    • Lack of reciprocity: Feeling like your efforts are not appreciated or reciprocated by your partner.



To be fair, this is not something asked for (per se), rather a role I seemingly fill. And possibly the root of the emotional connections I form, much to my newfound chagrin - as I cannot operate without it. I have discussed with others the wondrous benefits of partnering with another caregiver for a self-sustaining cycle of reciprocity within a romantic relationship, but to date have been unable to form an emotional connection with someone who has simultaneously formed one with me, much to my long-suffering chagrin.

The next chapter on this subject will delve into *why* I am the way I am - what caused me to become a caregiver in my relationships.

ehowton: (my_lovers)
2025-06-20 05:13 pm
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2025-06-20 05:10 pm
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2025-06-20 04:58 pm
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2025-06-20 04:42 pm
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2025-06-20 04:41 pm
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2025-06-19 06:31 pm
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2025-06-19 06:13 pm
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2025-06-19 06:09 pm
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2025-06-18 06:30 pm
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ehowton: (my_lovers)
2025-06-18 11:59 am
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ehowton: (Captain Hammer)
2025-06-17 04:53 pm
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ehowton: (coffee)
2025-06-17 04:12 pm

Six Months Later


The most profound changes in my life that the last six months unearthed?

  • Integrity

    • I discovered integrity was much higher on my list of values than I had at first assumed. Post-mortem analysis still hasn't completed on whether or not its related to my demisexuality. Note: "Labels" allowed me to articulate that concept in 31 words instead of 1000. You're welcome.

  • Allowing

    • I learned about allowing versus attracting. Still working on where/with whom I allow my energy to be spent. For me, this is going to be a little more difficult. The door however, has been cracked open.

  • Growth

    • I rushed toward - and embraced - every uncomfortable thing I could in order to facilitate growth. So much so, I missed what it was trying to teach me. I am far more cognizant of that which is uncomfortable now, and do not run toward it. I don't even face its direction. I am - for now - sidestepping that which is uncomfortable until I regain my bearings.


  • ehowton: (Captain Hammer)
    2025-06-16 01:11 pm
    ehowton: (indian)
    2025-06-15 06:14 pm
    ehowton: (indian)
    2025-06-14 01:53 pm
    ehowton: (Default)
    2025-06-14 12:21 pm
    Entry tags:

    Dream Entry


    Dreamed I spent all day working on a multi-media art project for a an outdoor show. It was easily one of the best-executed, most visually stunning sets there.

    My family was there, as well as this loud, crass, highly-annoying woman with her husband and kids. As I was super busy working on the project, I ignored this woman’s glaring intoned request for validation of her smartness as she loudly bragged of her knowledge of all things and how I could probably do it better. This set her off.

    I heard her vitriol at the slight as I left for another part of the event to retrieve some items. On my way back I ran into them at the dining area so stopped to chat with them in an over-the-top manner while wearing my most authentic smile before going back to my masterpiece. I seemed to have smoothed things over.

    When I got there, it had been stripped. All of it. Gone.

    I walked back to the dining area and asked if they knew what had happened? The lady backpeddled so fast, and so violently, her entire family was stunned, as she swore to scour the grounds to find my my art and get to the bottom of this heinous act.

    They all sprung into action with the matriarch never once acknowledging being the cause for any of this, and while I was frustrated at having to reassemble - and in some things recreate - the entire thing, sure enough they’d not only found every single missing item, but I’d won the grand prize and they’d parked a super sleek, futuristic, extraordinarily expensive RV - he grand prize - in the outcropping in which I’d been working. A little bit later the lady proudly reveled a tidy, neat stack of every missing piece, then - with a show of pompous visibility - laid an additional, well wrapped package atop it all. Her unspoken peace offering. I thanked her and they all started to tune to leave.

    That's when the strength of the supports were exceeded on the outcropping, triggering the auto-adjust gears buried deep underground to adjust. I could see the supports shift slightly as the entire outcropping glided further into the water to compensate, then - due to the weight of the RV, the stack of supplies, and that last gift, broke off, and crashed into rapidly moving water below. I thought I’d be able to retrieve most of it by diving in, but the strong current carried everything off and due to the direction the river was flowing, I knew I’d have to drive to Saint Louis if there were any chance of getting my stuff back.


    The art project = your emotional labor, your systems of integration, your love-written-in-form.
    The annoying woman = external projection demanding affirmation you never offered
    The destruction = what happens when your work is ignored, misused, or resented for existing without catering to others' insecurities
    The restoration = relational “repair” that never acknowledges the damage
    The gift = unasked-for compensation that becomes the catalyst of collapse
    The RV = the thing that looks like a reward, but was never the thing you asked for

    You didn’t lose your art.
    You lost everything that came with believing you’d been seen.

    Because recognition without comprehension is not only hollow—it’s dangerous.