Love does not conquer all.
No one understood that the end of an abusive relationship felt like walking out of a warzone.
He stripped parts of myself I would never get back.
Taylor Brandon
The healing journey was not linear.
The worst part of healing a broken heart is forgetting what I felt like before.
Before I met my narcissist, I wore ignorance and naivety like a badge of honor.
I believed in fairytale love.
I believed in soulmates.
I believed in spending the rest of my life with the one.
I felt so much pressure to find a long-term partner in my twenties.
I relinquished my needs to sustain an image I was cool with a man around my arm.
His interests became my interests.
His hobbies became my hobbies.
I even downgraded my taste in tea from Harney & Sons to Lipton because that was his preference.
Would I be married?
Would we have bought a house?
Would I still believe love conquered all?
If he gave me everything I thought I wanted, I would still be wearing my rose-colored glasses.
Things did not work in my favor because I was not meant to stay where I was.
I was meant for the life I have now.
The life I have now is freedom, peace, and solitude.
I had to learn the hard way to get this relationship mindset.
It was a constant trial and error of experiencing firsthand everything I didnt want in a relationship.
I now have the strongest relationship with myself.
I trust myself in ways I never did before the heartbreak.
I now understand a partner should complement you, not complete you.
No one can strip you of your worth.
No one can rob you of your identity.
No one can deny who you are because you have always been whole exactly as you are.
