Salsa Dancing

I'm meeting up with the friend I mentioned in my last post tonight. We're going to a salsa night at a local bar. I used to go to salsa classes regularly when I was 17/18 and in my first term of uni, and I absolutely loved it and had gotten pretty good, but for some reason I stopped going. I havn't been for about two years now so I'm very rusty and very nervous. The friend I'm going with used to come to some of the classes with me and she continued doing it at uni and has entered into loads of dancing competitions so she's basically a pro and I can't help but feel a bit jealous because I know that's what I could have been if I had just persevered.

The last time I went salsa dancing with her and another friend (who had never done any salsa before), the two of them were getting asked to dance every five seconds while I could count on one hand the number of times I was asked. I tend to give off "stay away" vibes so I can only presume that was the reason why. I'll have to try and work on that tonight.

wish me luck!

Heh, I really should stop making promises I can't keep. It's been a week since I went in for my first shift at the charity shop. I was a mess before I went in. I found the place, walked right past it and went and sat in a nearby field for about 20 minutes to try and calm myself down. Eventually I managed to get myself to go in. I had no idea what to expect, who I was meant to talk to, what I was supposed to say etc. I stood there like an idiot for what felt like hours before I found the courage to say anything. It all went okay in the end though, although I was a lot quieter than I would have liked, and I wasn't too keen on one of the ladies there. I went back in the next day, which went slightly better.

I didn't really do anything last week apart from that. I keep meaning to get in touch with my friend from school who's just got back from a year in Paris, but every time I think about it I convince myself that she doesn't want to hear from me, even though when I've texted her in the past I've always gotten a positive response.

Anyway I had my therapy appointment today. It went okay. Again I was quieter than I would have liked but that's to be expected. And he seems like the type of person I can see myself becoming more comfortable with with time. Today was just intro stuff and talking about my history etc. The group starts at the end of September. I have mixed feelings about it. I got a folder from him with some handouts including references from past participants, which I read through and found pretty motivating. So I'm kind of looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm terrified because I know I'm going to have to do the things that scare the crap out of me. I'm sure it's perfectly normal to feel that way though.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet but I'm going on holiday with my family in 10 days - a cruise around the Baltic. It should be good, but there's so much I'm worried about. Cruises are very sociable holidays. We've been on about 5 cruises now, the last one being two years ago exactly. The last one was the best one out of them all simply because me and my sister managed to get friendly with the other young people (of which there aren't many) on board. Now I'm worried that my parents are going to expect the same thing and will be on my case to go and make some friends if I don't. I'm most worried about the food situation though. This will be my first holiday I've been on since going vegetarian/vegan. I'll be okay for breakfast and lunch as there's such a huge amount of food on cruises there's bound to be something, but dinner is going to be a little more awkward. The menu changed every night and there's usually only one veggie option, which 90% of the time won't be vegan. I've looked on the website and they say to let the head waiter know about any dietary requirements and they'll try to accommodate you. I'm bound to draw attention to myself so I'm not looking forward to that. Also on these things you can choose to sit at a table with other people, which we always do as my parents are sociable like that. Usually it's just harmless middle-aged couples but it still adds extra anxiety. And to top it all off I can't fit into half of my summer clothes, so I'm crash dieting at the moment.

Okay I think that's enough for today! Who knows when I'll be posting next ...

another update

I've been finding it hard to find the motivation to blog recently. Mainly because I feel like I have nothing to say as I haven’t really been doing much and if I do have something to say then I think no-one is going to be interested anyway. But I’m going to try and post more regularly from now on.

I moved out of my uni house 4 days ago and am now back with my parents for the foreseeable future. I’m not terribly happy about it but I don’t have any other option at the moment. I had a pretty good time in the two weeks after results. Me and my housemates went camping in the Peak District for 2 nights and it was the most fun I’ve had in ages J We went on long walks up the mountains during the days and spent the evenings in the village pub.

On a bit of a side note I probably should mention that I’ve started drinking again. Not loads mind you just a few glasses of wine or cocktails. After going over a year without drinking that’s all I can handle now anyway! I’ve gotten into such a rut this last year and I think the tee-totalism has something to do with it. Because I had demonised alcohol to such an extent that I wouldn’t allow myself even one sip of a drink, I was much more likely to turn down offers to go out because I knew I’d just spend the entire night a nervous wreck. If I tell myself that it’s okay to have a drink if I feel I need it I’m way more likely to go out and do things (even if I don’t end up drinking in the end).

On to bigger news -I might be starting group therapy in September. I’ve got an introductory appointment with the therapist on the 11^th to see if I’m suitable for the group. I’ve been going back and forth considering group therapy for a while now; the stubborn and proud side of me feels like I’m giving up by choosing therapy (totally messed up thinking I know) and wants to get over this by myself, but the more rational side of me knows that I’m much more likely to overcome SA with outside help and that I might as well give it a go now while my parents are still willing to pay for it. Anyway we’ll see how the appointment on the 11^th goes.

I’ve also lined up a bit of volunteering as my CV is in serious need of padding out. Apart from my mediocre academic achievements and a few bits I did while in school I have a rather miserable looking CV. I’ve arranged to go to a charity shop (ironically for a mental health charity) tomorrow for a chat and to be shown around so hopefully I’m going to start volunteering there soon. I’m pretty nervous about tomorrow, although I’ve been doing okay at keeping the negative thoughts at bay today. One thing that I’ve been doing recently is writing down my negative thoughts and then taking a step back and asking myself if they’re realistic/justified and then writing down alternative thoughts. It really helps to gain some perspective.

Okay I'd better get some sleep now. I'll post again tomorrow after I'm back from the charity shop.