When I do find girlfriends, and they begin taking care of my needs for emotional intimacy; I am going to miss writing to Erica! (I hope she is always a part of my life; but I couldn't continue to spend 100's of hours a year writing to her, and still have enough time and energy left to give someone else what they would need from me.) (Oh well, I have a long ways to go, before there will be girlfriends in my life; so stop worrying about it and continue enjoying the pleasure of sharing with Erica.) (I think I will always need time alone, and write a lot; but I can't invest the time and energy I have been in it, and still have enough left over to give friends and lovers what they need.)
One thing I have learned from my women friends is to look for women who I am comfortable with and who I enjoy sharing life with; and forget about sex. (My sexual aspect could be happy with about anyone, and emotional intimacy needs to be my number one criterion.)
(5pm) Having reliable and cheap transportation, but no money for gas is frustrating; but it could be turned into an advantage. (e.g., one solution is to find friends with no vehicle who do have money for gas, and form a partnership.)
One advantage of moving to Missoula is that it set up a situation where I was able to get lots of time alone. (It would have been harder to do in Bozeman.) (Although I think time alone can be good for one, I think it has to come at the right time. (e.g., now was the right time for me, but if I had tried this five years ago, I probably wouldn't have learned as much from it.))
(6pm) Maybe a good way for me to check myself for misperceptions would be to search myself for a repressed aspect relevant to the perception in question?
I think that one advantage of a shrink is that they are not involved emotionally in our personal dramas, and the distance helps them to help us hear ourselves. (The people involved in our lives are interconnected with us, any action we take has an impact on their lives, and they aren't always objective. (We need, sometimes, to talk to others who have nothing to gain or lose from us making changes. (e.g., if I had tried to spend time alone in Bozeman, it would have taken things away from Samantha's life, and she would have been against the idea.)-(e.g., if I had asked my old drinking buddies about quitting the bars, they would probably have discouraged me, as it meant giving up those relationships.)-(e.g., when I did programming for a CPA firm and I got to a stuck point where I couldn't find the problem with the logic, I hired a friend of mine who is a math professor to go over it.)))