Im in the middle of your boat and the parent comments boat.

I moved to Metro Detroit from Kentucky to be with my boyfriend a year ago, and immediately my agoraphobia became worse than ever- so I started working from home. A year in, Im just now getting to where I can go to the store, but god its huge progress. I started realizing I had to take control of my happiness and my life, not just depend on him to make me happy. I moved here to reinvent myself, thats what we gonna do then.

When I first started, those somethings were even smaller. Back in January I was picking him up from work excitedly telling him about how I sat on the porch today or something. No forced positive, just a “wow I did this today and I couldn’t do it yesterday” kind of thing. Now Ive gotten up to “I wrote a paragraph today and went for a walk after work!” Or Im excited I was able to do my second job today.

Do you enjoy cooking or want to learn how/how to cook healthier? Thats a good hobby that has a purpose and contributes to the household independently. Have your partner tell you a small amount of “absolutely not” foods, and go from there. You can make something you want with your own two hands, have a tangible fruit of the labor, and a reward for working so hard on something you wanted.