Congrats on the writing gigs, krminnj!

It was reinforced in me early on that nothing I did was good enough, or worth getting excited about. So I grew up doing things on my own primarily for my own enjoyment. The negative side of that is I feel much less craving for social interaction; I came to avoid both the approval and/or disapproval of others. This has become very crippling for me especially in my work life. I believe caring what others think (guilt, shame, empathy, fear of abandonment) is a crucial motivating force in our lives. But abuse victims are often motivated to turn inward rather than outward where the help exists.