A letter to my ex (unedited)
14/11/2008
" We'll always be freaks and we'll never be like other people, and
you'll never be a freak because your just too perfect "
My room is so charged in the most silent depths of the night
Charged with this pulsating energy
It vibrates and it probes
Sending volts charging through my heart like lightning
The slightest movement, the slighest concave or change in frequency will
catch my eye
I close my eyes and yearn for sleep, but im filled with pictures of you
and images of losing you again.
I said I could contend with it, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't slice
my heart apart
Im used to the hurt, I can handle the darkness and the emptiness.
But im not used to the clarity and the reality. The raw and harsh
throbbing of heartache.
But that's me, I can adjust to anything that is thrown in my direction,
You learnt to live in contempt.. You can learn to live with anything
else
You are sheltered and were raised in fear of discipline. I was sheltered
and afraid as well.
I was prodded around, my mind was pryed, I couldn't tell the truth, I
denied the truth existed, "never underestimate the power of denial".. It
really does delude somebody.
The shit really started getting heavy at the beginning of high school.
Do you know that I was so ashamed of who I was that I lied to everyone
and told them I didn't live in rouse hill, all because one guy told me
it was a "shithole"
I was desperate to fit in, desperate beyond belief. But at the same time
I was dispositioned and ostrasized for my differences.
I could never find a group of people who I could be myself around
because people scared me so much
I bit my tounge and followed everybody else
I watched how the world saw me, and I interpreted it accordingly
In year 7 as I was standing outside class waiting to go inside, I said
something to make this girl jessie who has just begun talking to me
laugh. Jessie was popular, outspoken, gorgeous and didn't really care
about anything at all.
She had been bitching about this fat kid in our class called jake, and
he overheard her and he thought it was me
I remember his words clearly as he spun around "danielle, your such a
try hard. Stop trying so hard nobody likes you your a loser"
My comeback was telling him to sign up for weightwatchers.
But as those words left his mouth I bit my lip hard to hold back tears,
inside I felt as though id been poisoned. I felt like I had just been
slapped across the face.
What other people thought of me was the biggest fear I had. I wanted to
bend over backwards and impress. But now I knew what I thought everyone
thought of me I would never speak out again. I couldn't handle the
confrontation.
So I left that popular group and went to sit in the atypical loser
group. I may of been overlooked in the general population but when I was
placed next to the girls from this group I stood out as being pretty.
I found a place by being in that group.
The weirdos, the nerds, the losers, the outcasts, the overweight and
ugly acne ridden freaks. Every stereotype assosciated with that was
within that group.
We live in a shallow and sick world. To society, appearance is
everything. If your pretty and seemingly well spoken people listen to
you when you demand a fragment of attention.
Especially people who reside lower than you on the social scale at
school.
So there I found the place I resided until I broke apart in year 10 and
conformed.
But in this group I was seen as the superior because I was prettier and
more popular, but after a couple of days my eccentricities compelled the
interests of these people. I believed I was a raccoon. I had nicknames
for everyone according to what animals and objects they resembled
physically. I made up songs about teachers I didn't like and they loved
that, because I was physically normal, they went along and fell in love
with this little bit of weirdness.
And in turn I fell in love with the attention they praised me with.
But my friends didn't know me, the real me anyway. But I knew them.. I
turned a blind eye to this knowledge, acted dumb and pretended to be
just like them, ignored the problems that went on behind closed doors
and chased normality.
Only my bedroom walls saw the essence of who I was. I had an imaginary
friend , one of those little happy meal toys. The count from sesame
street. Everywhere he went, i was and I would quite literally hold
conversations with this toy. Yes, even at 13 years old.
The only freedom I had was riding my bike around the neighbourhood so
the count and I would have adventures together almost everyday.
Because I was too scared to have one on one adventures with another
person. In a group situation, I could control. But the moment it was
just me and one of my friends I let them control and dictate. I was
scared shitless of them not liking my suggestion. So I held back and
went along with whatever they wanted to do.
Thinking back, I hated one on one. I would always find myself doing
something I really had no desire to be doing.
In year 8 I went to sleepover at this girl nicoles house, I was taking
an anti depressant at the time and my mum told her mum to make sure I
took my medicine.
When they asked what it was for I told them I had really bad hayfever.
I dreaded taking those anti depressants. I dreaded the doctor visits.
When I went I would clam up and refuse to talk. My mum did all the
talking, I sat there and denied everything.
I could not bear the confrontation, I liked the denial so much. I liked
to pretend I was this normal 13 year old girl.
But at home I couldn't escape it.
One of the first disorders I suffered from was obsessive compulsive
disorder, one of the behaviours I engaged within was excessive cleaning
and organising. If something wasn't in place I would throw it in the
bin.
Living with 5 other people, nothing was ever always in place. So
mysteriously my dad lost paperwork he left lying around, my brothers
footballs and shit dissapearred. My mums things, maddis things. Anything
out of place irritated me into a frenzy, a frenzy so strong It would bug
me all day. The idea of coming home to unorganization was unbearable. I
spent my afternoons and weekends cleaning, sorting, arranging everything
into proper order. Throwing away things I didn't like. It drove everyone
crazy for months.
But to me, that was normal.
I was on zoloft throughout year 7, the first medication. Towards the end
I started to begin puberty.
I was so scared.
I started to develop, so I duck tapped my boobs down so it looked like
they didn't exist.
I went from being 29kg, to 45kg. In a matter of months, so I started
starving myself and exercising excessively.
I told myself it was for summer.
But for years I obsessed with my weight, and the scales. Food and
dieting.
I wanted to weigh 38 kgs, that was my goal. I remember staring at skinny
girls and idolizing them. I did exercise every morning and night.
I punished myself when I overate.
Again, I hid my food in napkins and threw it down the toilet after
dinner.
Id go well for a few days, and then id binge. I would then punish myself
with excessive exercise.
It was a vicious cycle
I secretley stopped taking the zoloft not knowing the dangers or
implications.. Towards the end of year 8.
I just wanted to be normal. None of my friends had to take medication,
so why should I?
But then I developed an obsession with picking pimples and scabs and
pretty much any lump on my skin needed to be prodded and tweezed and
squeezed.
At one stage my arms looked like they had leprosy.
Back to the doctor.
Another new medication, apparently the zoloft was making me aggressive.
I really started to go crazy.
The beginning of year 9, my hair was long thick and curly. My parents
didn't want me to straighten it as they were once conservative.
I saved up enough money to buy a hair straightner and I summoned up the
courage to ask my dad if I could buy one.
He told me to ask my mum and she said no.
This was the easter long weekend, I sat in my room crying for 4 days
straight. Over a fucking hair straightner. I think this was the first
time I cut myself, I have no idea what provoked me. Or where the idea
came from.
But it gave me a feeling like no other I'd felt before.
I hated my hair.
I just wanted straight long and perfect hair.
Or so I thought at the time.
I don't know the name of the medication I was on at this time, all I
remember were little pink pills each morning and night. But I started
writing morbid emo poetry and listening to the used dashboard
confessional and story of the year and taking back sunday on my
discman.
I started wearing black clothes.
Studded belts.
I was always blogging on my msn space.
Always. Every day without fail.
My parents and I did not get along at all. I was convinced they were
against me and they had installed secret cameras in my bedroom to spy on
me. I spent my weekends sitting in my room. I thought I was a lesbian
because I kissed my friend lucy at a group sleepover and I found myself
enjoying it.
I thought I had feelings for her. But I pretended to be cold and bitchy
to her. I would pick fights with her for no reason. I obsessed over her,
she had problems too. She would always be crying and moody. Nobody knew
why, but I knew that behind closed doors she was like me. Depressed.
I guess that explains the attraction. But at every group sleepover, I'd
find myself kissing her.
And loving it.
She was the first person I really had a slight attraction towards,
before her I kissed one boy and nearly vomited. I hated it.
For her ill never know what those kisses meant, we were 14 years old,
both closed off and problematic. But we never discussed this. In fact, I
was scared to be alone with her.
I was intimidated by her, but in awe at the same time.
And then daniel cox came in and my whole world was shaken around and
tipped upside down and left to suffocate.
I could never be sad around my friends.
I don't know why.
I didn't know how to express how I felt to people.
I was just blank and emotionless.
I was the entertaining and funny one.
But everyone saw me as cold and heartless..
I wasn't, and that hurt.
Every little comment hurt,
"Dani your such a bitch"
Ouch.. I really didn't mean to be
I just wanted everyone to be happy
But I have always been misunderstood
And misread
Hell, I couldn't even read myself
My parents gave me hell
Apparently I was selfish lazy inconsiderate and the list goes on.
I was never naughty at school, I would follow the rules without a second
thought
Crying tears of fear at even the slightest bit of trouble
If I did something wrong and got grounded it was horrible. I had no
computer or phone for a week. That meant no socializing. And that was
what I survived on. the knowledge I learnt from the internet. Without
that support, although I would just browse internet forums and read
about other peoples lives, without this knowledge I was an anchor headed
straight to the bottom of the ocean.
I was far to scared to ask my parents if I was allowed to go places,
because they always said no. I dreamt of the day I would be liberated.
Apparently they didn't trust me.
They would only let me go somewhere when they had interrogated the
parent of the child who I was going somewhere with.
Or unless they actually knew the parent.
I guess this ashamed me so I rarely summoned up enough courage to ask
them if I could go out. It wasn't worth the "no".
I hated that word.
Hm back to reality. Its almost 3 am and my head aches with ache? I don't
want to stop flooding this email with all these thoughts that run
through my mind, but I just need to get them out. I've never really
voiced this to anyone, I was always in denial about these things as they
happened. Blocking them out.
I know you might think you were just a stupid kid, but if I was just a
stupid kid why did I harbour up so much repressed pain deep inside. Why
did I dream of another life.
in primary school id spend my spare time drawing maps of houses and
towns, classrooms and schools. Families and imaginary characters. I'd
pretend to be them, and live out their story in my head. Wishing I was
them at that moment in my life, anything was better than reality.
I hate insomnia. I don't know why its bugging me, but it has been. I
just have so many thoughts. I know I should get some sleep now, or at
least try. Now I've gotten all this down maybe I won't try and process
it all.
I am really sorry about last night, I was overwhelmed with this strong
desire to dish out the pain. I was pushing you away just to see if you'd
still come back. Its something ill always have, I guess I just wanted to
prove you wrong as well. To me it seemed like you wanted to be
opressively enchanting, makeothers depressed. So I thought fuck you, you
can't get me to be like all those other little try hard girls. Ill show
you your not as invincible as you seem.
it does hurt me brendan.
The denial.
The mask upon your heart and then running as fast as you can from
anything remotely intimidating.
But as this email reveals, I was once exactly the same. I understand..
But complete empathy is also complete agony when we both suffer.
So I guess we have to accept the best of the bright and the darkness
which looms below it, and embrace it as it approaches us.
it hurts that you can't be with me in public
Or you don't want anyone to know about us
Its like im having a relationship with a married man with a controlling
wife
There are so many people who would gladly parade me around as their
trophy girlfriends, I know that. But everybody around you wants me shot
dead so you have to pretend I don't exist.
Am I really that evil?
I guess I slipped to far into a state of not caring after spending so
long caring and breaking my backbone bending over trying to fit in
somewhere and always failing.
The people around you had never seen you be so enfixed by one person
before. So that means im evil right?
I never really noticed how tainted my reputation was until I stopped
caring. I always pretended I didn't care, but deep down I did. But now I
notice it, I just accept it.
A lot of people want me dead, they hate me for no clear reason. But it
was not my problem, its i theirs.
I may be cocky for saying this, but im sure jealousy and confusion plays
a large role in this.
I finally found myself, and my place. I am now the person I've wanted to
be percieved as for a long time. Intimidating, yet completely
compelling. People are terrified of me! I look completely normal, but I
manage to frighten the world away.
Socially, I have a hold on everything around me. Complete control my
interpersonal relationships.
Control..
Having control is a wonderful power, I do what I want now. I say what I
want and I think what I want.
Nobody questions me, or challenges me. Its rare. Even teachers let me
be.
I am talked about, but not one word of dislike is spoken to my face..
Not at all.. It once humiliated me, but now I yearn for the
confrontation. I have the power of victory then, I know how humans tick
now, I know their weakness.
Their weakness is not belonging, being different and obscure.
Being excluded and shunned from societal norms. Being branched away from
the majority.
This is the biggest fear, but I live of the opposite because I've
managed to create my own minority in a way. The difference is I am being
completely open and honest with myself, I am not kidding myself.
I've embraced myself for who I am, a problematic, strange, psychotic,
sensitive, over emotionally unstable and exceptionally powerful person.
I could of never uncovered this without your prying and your wisdom.
Without you hand divulging deep within my soul and saving it from
jumping off the edge because it was simply different to the majority.
This difference is not a weakness. ,
I am so fucking tired right now and im assuming im talking so much shit
because whatever comes to my head is being written down.
I have so much left to say to you
I hope someday when you reach the ultimatum of your self discovery, you
send me long and intimate emails like this.




















