Good for you for going to the movie. We all need to do things to help ourselves, for our spouses are, as so many on these boards have said, just plain gone. Whether they return to us or not is not our choice, and we have to accept that each and every day, whether we are married or not, we must count only on ourselves for happiness. To put our happiness in the hands of another, I have learned, is a recipe for disappointment. Doesn't mean we don't have friends and spouses, of course, but rather we must recognize that ultimately we are responsible for ourselves.
I've found it somewhat helpful, if a bit morbid, to think about my W as dead. How would I live if she truly were dead, say from a car accident? I would grieve, as I am doing now, but I would find ways to go on. So must we all.
Also, one of the most powerful things I read all summer, and I read a ton of books on love, marriage, and life in general, came from Terrence Real. He makes the basic point that I, and a lot of others, miss: there is no objective reality in relationships. Instead of concluding that the other person is "wrong" or just "doesn't get it," we must try to understand, as best we can, what their reality is. It's pointless to argue "Well, why can't she see things the way I do?" She can't. Period. Don't ask why, just grasp that she can't see things your way because she has her reality. Whether your relationship survives, and then thrives, will depend on whether both of you can reach this point.
I wish you well; keep taking care of yourself by doing what you want to do.
