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Anonymous55498
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Default Oct 21, 2018 at 06:22 AM
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by feileacan View Post
I have been told previously (also by my H) that I exhibited a certain seductive appearance or way of being, which was half unconscious to me. In some situations I realised it as I saw that certain types of people very easily fell for me for some reason. I suspect that in some other instances I was completely unaware of it. In most cases I wasn't actively trying to be seductive though. Rather it was because I had such huge troubles with connecting with people in normal human level and thus I seemed to be somewhat mysterious, interesting and unavailable that for certain type of people this probably felt very attractive. People with normal ability to connect with other people payed no attention to me however, I guess they sensed that I'm not being "interesting" but there is something wrong with me.
I very much relate to this, especially the parts bolded. It does not happen very often these days but was the code of my youth, and I learned very well what types of people tend to be influenced by it (usually the kinds that I also like the best, so that's not too bad). Some therapists can fit in that group pretty well and that was the case with my last T especially. For me, what has changed this pattern quite a bit is getting older (I can't pass for the young, cute, dark and mysterious image anymore), having done it a hundred times and succeeding but, most importantly perhaps, my values and communication style has changed. I can tailor my style to the other people involved much more easily, am not so anxious socially, and also like to keep my priorities (the priorities of a particular connection) in the focus. For me, there was a phase several years ago when it was quite uncomfortable to realize that this old pattern of mysterious, implicit seduction just by existing dis not work effortlessly anymore. I am very happy about it now because it also used to complicate my relationships a great deal. I did not work on this directly in therapy but there was a certain dynamic with the last T that provided good lessons, even though at the time the pattern was already dying.

I am not sure this is "wrong" per se, it's just a characteristic some people have. What can be wrong IMO is how one uses it: taking advantage of it and making reckless decisions, getting into inappropriate and destructive relational patterns etc. I did a lot of the latter in my youth for sure. It can also be very limiting to habitually choose the same kinds of people that we know react to this positively (engage) and avoid developing other social skills with the rest. It was largely over by the time I got to therapy, but the remnants were there.
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Thanks for this!
feileacan