On Moving On, Part II

Original, posted last October, 2008. This is for Trina and Cap.

Oh heartbreak, thou art a cruel bitch. Again, you think you get used to it, but you don't. You think it gets easier, but it doesn't. It's always painful, it's always difficult, and it's always ugly. It's something you sincerely wish no one else has to go through. Ever.

1. Go outside.
Throughout the history of life here on the planet, nothing has been a more powerful source of hope, comfort, and warmth than the Sun. Stepping outside makes you realize that there are bigger things in life than unreciprocated feelings or irresolvable differences. At night, staring into the infiniteness of space inspires a sense of possibility, which translates to the feeling of hope, which leads to your heart hurting a little less.

2. Surround yourself with intelligent people.
In times of sadness, it's not necessarily comfort that one seeks; rather, answers. You want to make sense of what's just happened. You desperately try to find some deeper purpose, some greater meaning as to why that cunt ass whore broke your heart into a million pieces. What you need are people who have the capacity to help; not shallow, annoying, overly positive airheads whose only piece of advice seems to be "Marami pa'ng babae d'yan."

3. Seek closure, seek help.
You owe it to yourself to find out what happened, exactly. And when it comes to the ordeal of "moving on", you just can't do it alone.

4. Get back to normal.
You will get past this, there's no denying that. The only real question is how long before you get from Point A to Point B. Yes, we all yearn for a fast-forward button, but that's not going to happen. Don't make the mistake of putting your entire life on hold wishing for "what could have been"– you will regret it. The goal is to get things back to normal as soon as possible. Don't forget that, once upon a time, you didn't even know she existed. But you were happy, weren't you? This pain is temporary.

5. Temporary happiness is still happiness.
Fast food. TV series. Car washes. Internet memes. Fucking overpriced gadgets.

6. Let it out. Positively.
Write. Draw. Create. Scream violently into a pillow. Punch a willing best friend. Crank up the volume of a down-tuned electric guitar, fire up the distortion, and let the world have it with F#m. Sing your broken heart out to Adele's "Don't You Remember".