the breakup was always a larger than life event in my mind because of the catastrophic pain it caused because it was someone I thought could be my forever so when he gave me the electronic pink slip I used it as a catalyst for change I broke away with my idea of what made me attractive and accessible to men, and instead, I focused on what made me feel good about myself and learned to accept myself as the complicated and crazy woman that I am I finally understood I was always a Queen Underneath layers of princess skin Armed myself with poetry and confidence that breakup changed me like previous breakups did however, this one was the key to the transformation I needed to become the woman I was always meant to be
I bet all of my female ancestors still remember their third of december
abandonment wounds run deep in my bloodline I’ve lost count of how many woman in my family whose lovers absconded, who’s lovers left them for their own version of Heather- maybe this explains my epic overreaction every time a lover absconded their departure triggers trauma in my DNA from the abandoned women ancestors before me
this day inspired a poem titled, “My Last Heather Moment”
It’s the 3rd of December and that means it’s Heather Day! What exactly is “Heather Day”? It’s a lyrical reference to the Conan Gray song “Heather” which talks about unrequited love and his crush choosing some girl named Heather over him which is terrible because I still can’t imagine anyone choosing someone else over Conan Fucking Gray, the most beautiful man ALIVE! So the first time I heard Heather was around November of 2022 and in a few short weeks, I became obsessed with this song. I think my kids unintentionally know the lyrics because of how many times they’ve heard it. I’ve written poetry inspired by this song and read that poetry at open mic. I’ve posed in pictures inspired by the video of the song. I’ve blasted that song from my car at various times and have always sung it out loud when it would play over the loudspeakers at my second job.
Needless to say, I have a deep relationship with that song. I know that it’s because at various stages in my life, I’ve been dumped by my exes for someone else, my crush has chosen someone else over me, or in one instance, the guy I was kind of seeing brought the other girl to an event we were both at and he thought it was fine while I was having full blown panic attacks in the bathroom (that’s another blog post). Before I listened to Heather , I didn’t know what to call these gut wrenching moments but after “Heather” I call these moments “Heather Moments”. And I’m sure there are other people, who’ve had similar experiences and their own “Heather Moments” and so I made a playlist inspired by “Heather” with songs with a similar feel. I actually have a deep connection to every single one of these songs and have even seen a few of them performed live. Yes, I saw Heather performed live and it was the happiest 4 minutes of my life! Anyways, here’s my playlist along with a few of the poems inspired by the song Heather. Fun Fact about some of these songs: 1) I was obsessed with “Can’t Let Go” when I was 10 and my crush wouldn’t notice me. 2) Look Away was on repeat in my CD Player when I broke up with my ex at 15 and it wasn’t a week before he went out with that girl he told me “I shouldn’t worry about” 3) One of the first songs I learned to play on the keyboard when I was 13 was “Words Get in the Way” 4) This is probably the most embarrassing fact but I crashed into the pole at work while I was blasting “Traitor” from my car. And 5) I was obsessed with the song “Silver Springs” this year and had it on repeat and even translated it into Spanish to see how it sounded. Also, I’ve included link via spotify and youtube for your listening pleasure.
I WISH I WERE HEATHER playlist:
Back to Black-Amy Winehouse
Better than Revenge- Taylor Swift
Can’t Let Go-Mariah Carey
Checkmate- Conan Gray
Coincidence-Sabrina Carpenter Dancing on my Own-Tove Lo Deja Vu- Olivia Rodrigo
Driver’s License- Olivia Rodrigo
Glimpse of Us- Joji
Good Enough-Maisie Peters
Heather- Conan Gray
John Hughes Movie- Maisie Peters Lacy- Olivia Rodrigo
Lookalike- Conan Gray
Look Away- Chicago
Lost the Breakup- Maisie Peters
Lucid Dreams- Juice WRLD
Movies- Conan Gray
Objection-Shakira
Opposite- Sabrina Carpenter
She’s All I Wanna Be- Tate McRae
Silver Springs- Fleetwood Mac
Slow Dancing in the Dark- Joji 24.Taste- Sabrina Carpenter
in my island of solitude, I drift further and further away from romantic love when I’ve tried to invite others to my island they always left, and it drove me into hysterics making a catastrophic emotional mess of me so now I float alone on my island of solitude and have erected walls of strength and confidence around it I will not allow another soul to break them down only to later leave on a whim, leaving me in pieces once again
abuela Gaby sends me hints that she wants her story to be told but I can barely remember her she tells me to still try with the bits I have I ask her for patience I want to get it right, I want to do her story justice she tells me, “hemos vivido vidas paralelas” las palabras te vendrán fácilmente pronto” and adds, “es como vas a sanar, es como empiezas a entenderte” and I don’t understand what it means, I don’t understand her interest in me now and how I became a messenger of her story, “ni siquiera pensé que me querías Abuela, you always pulled my hair” and she replies, “es que era duro ver nacer y crecer a alguien que se parecía tanto a mi, me traía demasiados sentimientos encontrados, porque sabía que tu espiritu seria difícil de dominar” and while I try my best to comprehend what she tells me – it’s hard to wrap my head around her message and all of the conflicting stories about her from my family so I’m going to make it a point to find out her story through her letters and pictures- abuela, I want to do your story justice I can’t rush through this yours is one of the most important stories I’ll share in my lifetime
Is it really so bad to assist others in ending their lives? couldn’t it be seen as a final act of love? to help them die with dignity and on their own terms without machines and tubes delaying the inevitable without anyone’s say over the little autonomy they still have left
I had to give up a lot of fun things in my life to get to integration an alcohol dependency, a shopping addiction, Relationships and sex- and the last thing was energy drinks This was all for me to become the mom my kids always deserved it was needed for me to meet my higher self who makes decisions with compassion and love Instead of out of ego It was needed for me to start living in the most authentic way possible and while I could dwell on all of the fun things I lost I now look at it as a blessing needed for clarity and to make space for this new version of me who no longer hides her jagged edges for the comfort of others Who loves who she is and no longer Wants to be anyone else Who finds peace in solitude and is no longer scared of it my integration of self costs me many things I was addicted to but it was worth it for the woman I am today for the beautiful life I’m currently living
Releasing my fears of the unknowns and the what ifs to fulfill my life’s purpose is a challenging
I refuse to lie down in a defeatist mode in comfortable mediocrity stagnant in a suburban reality
So I release my fears to truly reach my potential to prove to others they were wrong but mostly to prove to myself that I was wrong and I’m worthy and I’m enough
my exes are scared of me for good reason too many times I’ve used their words, even their emails as ammunition in expressing myself in poetry sometimes, it was for revenge Many times, it was me just trying to heal but I did warn most of them –I’m a writer–and I’m crazy they probably thought “Oh how cute, a girl who writes a few verses” they never understood how my wrath showed up in my writing until they leave and finally understand they should have heeded my warning
at least I can now wear corsets and look good in them
I’ve starved myself to make my mom, lovers, and even myself so they’ll love and accept me I’d go on extreme diets, skip meals, over exercise until throwing up and getting excited when the number on the scale went down and hating myself when it went up never quite understanding there’s much more to me than some arbitrary and unrealistic standard of beauty I’ll never be able to attain there’s much more to me than how I fill out a tight dress and yet, I still check the scale every once in a while to measure my worth
The invisible chains of my mental illness try to take away my joy and enthusiasm but I shake off my chains and live as fully as I can Despite my anxiety, Despite my depression, Despite my BPD trying to grab hold of me I no longer allow my inner demons rob me of the goodness that universe has to offer me
I hold hands with my trauma and show her off to everyone most people look at her with curiosity some people are horrified my family cringes and and whispers to me, “it’s embarrassing, showing her as some kind of trophy” I get mad and flip everyone off and me and my trauma link arms and skip on our way to share her story and create drama and chaos who cares if no one understands our process of healing and recovery by sharing our story
I come from a line of women who were never afforded the privilege of telling their stories and speaking out their truths they simply accommodated and according to the expectations from their parents and husbands they had no choice but to shut up, obey, breed, and stay like docile animals whose spirits are beaten out of them and with each poem, each blog post, each social media post I feel a part of them heal because I will be the last in my lineage to have followed suit and the first one to break out of the toxic narrative where women should only be seen and not heard where women should be limited by their gender where women are only good for one thing I’m the red herring, the hair out of place, la malcriada- who’ll scream as much and as loud as I have to to tell mine and their stories even as my family cringes and accuses me of being dramatic and crazy because to not do so would be a disservice to them, to me, and to future generations
honest nonsense is spilled across my blog honoring who I have been, am, and will be a former chaotic mess who’s tried her best to turn her victim story into a narrative of empowerment owning everything that’s happened to me, not caring what anyone else thinks- if some people are offended, they should have acted better
I wasted too much time in comparing myself to other women and blaming them when my exes chose them and allowed my jealousy and rage to speak for me Never understanding how they were all just innocent bystanders in my complicated and chaotic love stories I’m sorry, I didn’t know any better and I wasn’t mature enough to take accountability and it was easier to use y’all as scapegoats when I lost war after war of love- It was easier to say you won because I wasn’t educated and white like you In reality, I should’ve used my ammunition only towards my exes It was never y’alls fight to be a part of even if some of them used y’all as an excuse for their departure I’m so sorry, anna, david’s ex-wife, my ex metamours, maybe my message will come to you in a dream or you’ll see this poem in my blog one day and be able to forgive me
Life on the BPD 