1) Comfort foods
2) Nonstop Moviethon
3) Libations
4) Music
5) No rules
I think that the key for healing a broken heart is to allow for sufficient wallow-time, such as atleast one uninterrupted weekend. Make it jam packed with distractions so that you aren’t tempted to over-focus on your misery. Comfortably numb is the goal. As the days pass, the numbness wears off as “time heals all wounds” steps in and takes over.
At the top of my comfort food list will always be chocolate. But now that I am on a mostly raw diet, I am trying really hard to make better choices. So I decided to make my own handmade organic chocolate treats. They were really simple and easy! I made chocolate-dipped strawberries and then rolled them in chopped cashews. Then I poured the excess chocolate mixture into this cool rubber heart shaped mold I got recently at the cooking store. I added a touch of mint extract and sea salt to the chocolates, and they were divine! Here’s the recipe: http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2012/6/1/coconut-oil-chocolate-covered-strawberries
2) Nonstop Moviethon:
Having movies on the majority of the time helps keep my mind off my misery. This time I watched the whole season of “New Girl.” It made me laugh really hard at times, which of course releases endorphins. (Find it on Netflix if you need a laugh)
3) Libations:
I am ashamed to admit that I used to go through a whole bottle of red wine a night in past breakup situations. Then I would be hungover the next day, which only added to my misery. Now it just takes a glass or two to mellow me out. And yes, I even make my own homemade organic berry wine! I’m so Martha Stewart I scare myself sometimes!
I like to choose music with lyrics that go with the ending relationship. Then I listen to it over and over and over. This weekend it was Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” album, specifically: “A Case of You.” I love this section of the lyrics so much that it inspired the little doodle above.
Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time you told me you said
"Love is touching souls"
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time
If you’ve never heard the song before, it’s very beautiful and well-worth a listen.
I find that a weekend without rules really heals my broken heart as well. If I am about to do something because I think that I “should,” I stop and rephrase it to sound delightful, or I do something else I want to do. I wear pjs and mismatched socks all weekend and avoid those annoying “shoulds” like exercise and salad-eating. Usually after a weekend of this, I am ready to get back to my usual healthy routine. I’m not saying I feel completely healed, because it takes awhile depending on how long the relationship was. (They say it takes half the time you were in it to get over it, but that varies depending on how much of a drama queen you are. Haha!)
These same components could really be used for any kind of grief or emotional upset beyond a broken heart. Sometimes it helps to have a handy list to turn to when you are in misery. I hope my list will bring you comfort if you ever need it.