Co-Dependency

From  8/9/10

People often ask, ‘What exactly is Co-dependency?’

Co-dependency is not an easy condition to define, and I think it can be different for different people, and at different times.

But to me, it’s living life in a shadow. Another person’s shadow. And it’s like being locked in their movements, only able to do as they do, only able to go where they go, think as they think, feel as they feel.

It’s not a mimicking thing – it’s like someone has taken your capacity to be you and locked you instead in a space where you only feel ok if you are in this shadow.

Stepping out from it is frightening, and usually too painful to even contemplate.

It’s like being a puppet within the shadow. And of course, being in someone else’s shadow is limiting – you can never branch out, try something new, feel different, think a new thought. It keeps you smaller than you could possibly be on your own, because it restricts you to only that part of life where the shadow and yourself meet.