Thread: My friend
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Old Nov 30, 2020, 11:10 AM
Discombobulated's Avatar
Discombobulated Discombobulated is offline
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Member Since: Oct 2019
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Thinking about this, I think your mood after interacting with someone is something to be mindful of, and it seems like you often come away feeling not so good for the reasons you describe (passive aggression, talking at you).

I am wondering if it helps to think about what you do enjoy about your friendship, kind of a pro's and con's thing. Do they balance each other out kind of thing.

I think flooding you with facts is an interesting one, my husband does that sometimes when he's on topics he's interested in. Namely astronomy and astrophysics- lol, topics I just can't get excited about no matter how much I try. My sister's partner does this with her too. We think it's a way of wanting to connect - to share this passion they have. So in a way it is positive. I took to saying something like "That certainly is an important topic but my mind just goes blank when I even try to think about it" trying to keep the balance of acknowledging what he's sharing with me but explaining why I can't get interested. It helps he similarly finds some of my interests uninteresting so I can draw a parallel.

The passive aggression I agree it's good to say something. He may or may not be aware he's doing it but I would say it's not acceptable in friendship.