Compromise

Bryan's drawing, 2012

Bryan and I have been having trouble lately.

I have come to learn that relationships are like breathing.

In and out. Open and shut. Close and distant.

It's been a mad ride these past few days. We've been dumped at the bottom of the chasms of depression, and sailed the heights of new honeymoon-like bliss.
We danced around each other, each taking up the waltz in an ebb and flow of passivity and action.

Today we've compromised.

Today we put our frustrated little heads together and worked out a plan. I have my time, doing what I want to do with him (activities he dislikes, such as reading to him, or writing together), and he gets 4 solid, non-interrupted hours playing a video game I have no interest in. Everyday.

We made some together time, which was most important.

Tonight I wanted to draw with him. He drew a portrait of me that looks like time flowed backwards and I somehow got much older, but I love it. I discovered something I didn't know about him. He can put texture and emotion into a drawing. He had never opened up and exhibited this to me before. I feel a new connection.

Compromise is a key that unlocks a door of happiness and wonder. As a schizophrenic in a working relationship with a significant other, this is news to me. I've never had such consistency, such a willingness to let another in and be received in turn. I am proud of myself today. Hoorah!