Damn you.

(Warning - if you're a friend of my ex, you don't want to read this.)

Damn you.

Damn you for taking something so precious and so important to me – my jewelry business – and infecting it with your anger and your perception and your criticism.

Damn you for doing such a good job that every time I do a show/sale, like today, it only fills me with dread and worry and panic because nothing I have/do is good enough, despite the fact that people stop me on the street and chase me across stores to find out where I got my jewelry/purse/notebook.

Damn you for filling my boxes of supplies and stock with your negativism, so much so that I almost vomit with anxiety every time I open them up and start working with them.

Damn you for instilling so much doubt in me that even today, 18 months later, I still hear your angry, bitter voice in my head, making me not want to pursue something that is lucrative, creative, and fulfilling.

And damn me for allowing you to do this to me.

Well, today, I am damning you to the past. No matter what happens at this sale today, it has nothing to do with you. I damn your anger, bitterness and criticism to hell, where it belongs. Today is all about me, I will succeed or fail on my own merit. And if today is not successful financially, I’m sure I will find success in damning you into the distance, where you belong. And these events always have success – they always show me that what I do is valuable, even if it’s just to a few people, because those few people are the ones who will help me build a success. I’d rather have five excited customers than 25 unenthusiastic ones.

So, damn you to hell, where you belong, take your shit with you. I don’t need it here anymore.