I'll talk to you later.
Carly.
Keep it together.
You can do this.
Stay with me Carly.
Carly.
(cries)
Carly.
Carly, are you there?
You're here now.
There's no avoiding it.
Where?
First Step:
Reminiscing and Retracting
I don't wanna get up...
That's fine.
You can lay here all day.
You can cry all night.
You're allowed to do all the things you promised yourself you'd never do.
Like listening to an old voicemail just to hear his voice.
(Sorry I missed your call...)
(I'm on a subway right now but I'll call you back later, okay?)
Or, wish he'd message you just so you'd know he was thinking of you too.
But at the same time wish he wouldn't because it would only make you miss him more.
And you know you shouldn't but...
...you text him.
Maybe even call him...
You fight it...
...but you lose.
You watch the sappy rom coms
It's cliché but... go ahead. Eat from the carton.
I miss everything about him.
What do you miss?
How sturdy he felt when I hugged him tight
The way he would
rest his chin on the top of my head
How reassuring his hand felt as he kettled me through a crowd
That look in his eye when he 'accidentally' ate the last cookie
Sweaty kisses after he worked out which made me cringe at the time but..
..now it just makes me smile.
I miss it all
That's okay.
You're allowed to.
You're supposed to.
It's okay to look like crap and not care.
Who are you trying to impress anyway?
You see him?
Everywhere...
Hey it's okay to purposely avoid all those places and things.
You just wanna be alone.
Your friends insist on taking you out but all you want is..
..to shut off all the lights,
curl up in bed and..
..cry some more
Your friends try to help by saying,
You can do so much better!
I didn't like him anyways.
I don't want to hear any of that
It doesn't help at all
I just... want him back in my life
Or do you just miss the thought of him?
You miss the routine, the comfort, the body
That's all, right?
No
At this point you just miss him
And that's okay.
Carly
Carly, you there?
Yeah
Do you want to get up?
Actually... I do
(sighs)
How long was I there?
It doesn't matter.
All that matters is that you're ready.
For the next step?
Release
I'm hungry
I think you can put some effort into looking sorta decent.
What does that entail?
Brushing your hair?
Maybe a little eye shadow...
Some blush?
Yeah, no. You’re right, no blush yet.
Call up one or two of your closest friends to catch up.
You’re ready to talk a little bit about your ex
But this time with a clear head
You might see cute guys with your eyes but
nothing stirs inside your heart
No butterflies, no sparks, no interest
Because I still miss him.
You will for a while
But at least the urges to contact him or check up become less frequent
You just have to learn to suppress those urges now
How long will I be here?
As long as you need to be.
You're up early!
I'm ready!
The next step:
Rebuilding
One day becomes two
Two becomes a week
Weeks become months and soon you're ready to prove to yourself
That you can live on
You actually want to go out
Socialize, meet new people
You talk, laugh, flirt
Yes, even flirt or..
whatever you call what you just did
I'm a little rusty...
It's okay, it's been a while
As long as you're smiling again
You start doing things towards the better version of you.
Trying a fruit cleanse
Finally taking that trip to Europe
Trying yoga for the first time
Cutting your hair, oh! Okay, nothing too crazy
Running a marathon
Checking out a museum
Cleaning out your old clothes
You start to see life without him
Carly
It's the first time he came over
I cooked spaghetti and he got a stain on it
I put in the wash right away
We ended up talking for hours
And then he forgot it here
You've made so much progress, Carly, please...
I kept it in my closet as a reminder of that night
That was almost 4 years ago
I thought he was the one
We both did.
Yea... it did feel special.
It was
And it always will be
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try
Something can always hold you back from moving on
A lingering memory of false hope
And you fall back a few steps.
But if you can be strong
you'll finally make it out.
Renewed
The world is brighter, happier, lighter
That huge weight of pain and fear has been lifted and
All you feel is excitement
Excitement for what's to come
Excitement for the possibilities.
At this point it's not even about finding another person to love
It's about find who you are as a person, as a human.
It’s only when you don’t have to consider anyone else
That you can focus completely on your life
In creating the best possible version of yourself.
But there's no harm in smiling back at that cute guy in the coffee shop.