Number 7: Rearranging Furniture: Creating a Sense of Control
Obsessively rearranging furniture, this is interesting. You move the couch, then the bed, then the bookshelf. It doesn’t feel right somehow, so you move it again and again. It looks perfect to others, but to you, something is off, something is missing. It feels like OCD, but it’s not. Why do you do all of this? Because changing your environment gives your nervous system the illusion that something has shifted, that you are not stuck, you are not helpless. Rearranging the room becomes symbolic, a physical act of reclaiming control when everything inside feels messy and disoriented. Organizing the outside feels like an anchor. And when your life has been rearranged by someone else for too long, even moving a lamp becomes an act of rebellion.
Number 8: Recording Conversations: Validating Reality
Recording conversations no one will ever hear you hit record when you are journaling, you talk into voice memos, you document things obsessively. Of course, not for nostalgia, but to prove you are not imagining things. Because narcissists gaslight you until you question your memory, don’t they? Until you stop trusting your own eyes and ears. So, what do you do? You start keeping receipts, even in private moments. It becomes a form of self-validation. Sometimes, you even rehearse fake conversations with the narcissist, maybe in your head, explaining your side, anticipating their lies. You hit record, knowing they will never hear it, but that is not the point. You hear it. And in a world where your truth was stolen, hearing yourself speak it out loud becomes a revolutionary act.
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