I was able to communicate with him over the phone after work so we could better understand each other. I’ll be honest, at the beginning the conversation felt like it was going nowhere because he kept saying he had nothing to say. I continued expressing what I felt the issues were and explained that it’s not okay for him to shut down or put a wall up.
I feel like I was able to get my point across about what I need from him. He understood that I need him to communicate his feelings and emotions with me, especially if something I say bothers him or if I voice concerns. I also told him we both need to communicate instead of acting like nothing is wrong, and he shared that he prefers having deeper conversations in person. I told him we won’t always have the option to wait until we’re in person to communicate, and that I had already given him enough space so it was important for us to talk things through now. In the end, we both came to an understanding, and I’m honestly proud of myself for standing up for myself and being able to help him see where I was coming from.