Distancing

[Trickster]

This is a long story:
For a couple of years I have felt very different, very distanced from my family. I live with my half-brother, my step-dad and my mom. My mom i feel i can talk to about certain things but not really deep because she can be very judgemental and narrow-minded at times. My step-father is a person who thinks he is always correct, and i really cant talk to him about anything actually. it feels weird and forced, with my half-brother i cant he is both younger and to put it bluntly...a real A$$-hole. so yea. Im in college(still live at home for now), and i try to keep myself away from home majority of the time
The problem is, i feel like... not that i dont want to, but I cant get closer and honestly I dont want to. Im also gay, and basically almost t he polar opposite of what my family believes/thinks so those are some factors as well. During family trips, i really try to find some kind of way so i dont have to go not because of where but who is going to be there. I usually plaster on a fake smile when I do go/forced to go. I was wondering if this is normal? and will i always feel this way? i feel family is important but my immediate family i feel is just too... not for me. Will i always feel this way? or is it a phase? and any advice what so ever

[Ambrosia]

You're 18, so it's normal. I hate how that sounds, "normal", but I can relate in more than one way to this. When you get older, and are a complete adult (None of that Young-Adult BS), you'll most likely gather a stronger relationship with your family. At this moment, you can't really grasp things the same way. At 18, you're still not fully there, and still finding yourself, so tempers will run high in your family, you probably won't get along, and so forth which you have named.

It's not just you that makes it hard, but your step-dad and mother. They view you as an 18 year old college student who thinks you know everything. So it's going to go down like that. Just wait until you're older, wait it out! It will get better!