I would say that my W could probably say the exact same thing. In fact, she did say this 9 years ago when we broke up under similar circumstances.
FWIW, at that time she told me that when she started doing something new that she was excited about, she felt she was being who she truly was rather than the person she was in our marriage. She said she didn't feel like I saw that part of her, but she also said that she didn't want to show me that part of her. She was scared to have me involved in that part of her life because she wanted it for herself. And yet without me involved, i'd never know the true her.
Well, 8 months later those feelings started fading. She said she wanted to pursue her career, but it was meaning less and less without someone to share it with. She had been in emotional confusion because she'd felt disconnected from me, but didn't realize that reconnecting could bring an end to that turmoil. She was so busy worrying about running that she couldn't understand how to repair anything. And yet once we finally started working on it, really working on it, everything calmed down.
So, don't know if that helps. Obviously each sitch is different. But I hear you saying almost verbatim the things she wrote to me during those months of upheaval.
