welcome Bryan. thanks for takin a chance and posting. looks like we've got a lot in common. i'm new here so i don't yet know how to grab what you said and put it in here. this is really scary stuff. telling the truth and baring your soul is scary. it takes guts. i know i don't know anyone here and it's just cyberspace but it still scares me to death.
Stephan recommended alice miller. he's right on. i started with the drama of the gifted child. it's a good place to start. i read the body never lies. it sez that if we can't face and process what happened to us as kids that trauma will manifest itself in the body. that's pertinant to me cuz i'm 51 and my body's been playin tricks on me since i was 30. i just started thou shalt not be aware. it looks pretty good. i read philosophy who needs it by ayn rand years ago and really enjoyed it.
i remember very little about my childhood. therapy and journaling is helping me find my way back. my therapist said to write about anything that triggers me. so i throw up all over my notebook and look for puzzle pieces and bread crumbs to find my way back home. it's slow but it's workin.
i read rtr and it was real scary to try to apply what i read. just tryin to be honest was really hard but it's worth it. it's an acid test. it's one of the reasons why i defooed. i've never needed more than a couple good friends so i never worried about not havin a bunch. i haven't worried much about what people think since i was in my twenties. i hardly ever leave the house so i guess i'm a hermit too.
"I have yet to learn much of anything deeply about who I am, what I like, what I feel, and how I can bring others to myself as well as myself to others". that's what i keep writing in my journal. welcome aboard brother, g