Maybe it's just me, but I feel like my family is what deters me from reaching out to find new relationships in some cases. While I see other households with some dysfunction, I've always been more critical of my own. Maybe that's where I'm off.

I know were not perfect, but I do expect a norm from family that I just can't seem to achieve anymore. I only wish my family wasn't so fractured and I do feel this ultimately results in losing forged connections to people I have met online or out in the wild.

My mother was crazy enough in my high school years that it highly contributed to the early end of my first real relationship. Im sure theyve never helped. I try to keep my family away from any potential partner for as long as possible. My sisters cool at least.