I've since moved into the relatives' house. They are good to me, and do not ask anything big of me and while I've made it clear I'm on tap to help with anything, my aunt and family matriarch in turn made it clear they appreciate it but will absolutely not make me beholden to them as I was to the lazy members of my immediate family. So I've been able to feel good with tasks they needed a pair of hands for, but still free to keep making myself more relaxed and de-stress myself from feeling I couldn't actually do anything in my day, lest I need to be by family "just in case" for anything. Hopefully, the job interviews I have tomorrow and Thursday - Thursday's the one I really want - will go well. I'm ready to stop being between jobs and get back to work. I hope Thursday's interview will go well. I really do.
I'm trying to find stuff to do and meet up at. In full irony of above an event I planned to attend tonight I had to pass up on to help relatives (and I won't blame them, because I didn't think they'd need me nor would they have asked had they known - it was last-second help), but I have a second event Thursday and we'll see how it goes. I know, cringe and all to have to find stuff to do, but I'm willing to take it in return for working on learning to socialize much better than I usually do. It goes hand in hand with finally accepting someone near-and-dear to me will not work out past a very strong friendship. Truth be told... she is one of the best people I have ever met, my best friend, and always looks out for me, and I've always tried my best to do the same for her. And thus I'm feeling relieved my "acceptance" phase seems to finally be happening - I want to focus on myself for a while, not fret on anything deep relationship-wise, and learn to network and interact with lots of people again. The last time I did so successfully was years ago when I forced myself to begin talking to others to have hands on deck if I ever needed help with an abandoned cat I adopted. I had
drive back then thanks to that cat and it's really driven home I do best when I have someone or something to be my best for, but I need to think of myself as worthy of as well, somehow.
The above goes hand-in-hand with
this post I made in the whatcha reading thread about a book with short stories on cats. I always had the idea to volunteer at a shelter somewhere and the stories have quite tugged at me and made me remember how I felt on keeping my previously-mentioned cat and the family pets overall safe and happy - it gave me a genuine peace I never knew before in my life and cleared the depression in my head like nothing else did. I like to suspect if I can get that rolling I'll feel that peace again, helping some souls that need love, and perhaps becoming a crazy cat dude and that
aged fitness pseudo-monk just relaxing in solitude as my future if I can't really learn how to make connections. And, really, I do want to make some. Believe me on THAT. But at least I think I finally know some things to fall back upon to feel good with in case it doesn't work out.