So I would appreciate y'all's thoughts. I'm a very conscious-oriented person. Part of my divorce was because I stopped going to church, so part of this is just me being curious how to navigate this without marriage, but also without religion. I didn't want the divorce. I'm a little over a year away from when she left. I consider myself someone who was emotionally abused/neglected. I feel some fear just because of how needy I am and I don't want to get into another toxic relationship because I'm getting too excited about any attention. I feel like my philosophical orientation makes partnership difficult, but I want a partner. I want someone to cuddle and know and be known.

Anyways, I just feel like I need some sort of understanding in order to take steps forward. I want to start dating, but I feel unable to. I have some mental block. IDK I feel like this post doesn't make sense, but if anyone has any thoughts, advice, feedback in any way, I'd appreciate it.