Read This May Sound Crazy Online
Authors: Abigail Breslin
This May Sound Crazy
Ever since I was really little, I loved writing. I just liked telling stories. When I was twelve, I wrote a short story for the first time. It was about a girl in a mental institution with schizophrenia. My parents were terribly concerned. I'm sure they hoped I just had a “big imagination.”
But that first story opened something up for me; writing became like my friend. A person I can say whatever I feel to.
Then in 2013, when I was really into poetry, my friend told me to look at a certain Tumblr page. Almost immediately I was hooked. After hours of scrolling through photos of sunsets and cobblestone streets and different quotes and stories, I felt like I knew the people who had created them. I knew what
they liked and dislikedâfrom bands to foods to movies to whether or not they got along with their parents to who they had a crush on. Tumblr quickly became a place where I could tell stories about guys I liked who didn't like me back or friends who gave me advice that I wanted to share. I began messaging back to the people who followed my blogs, and they shared stories with me about their exes and their friends, about their recent heartbreaks and their newfound lovesâand sometimes just about their cats or their dog. They would just ask me things like “You know when you text someone something really long and they send back one-word answers? What's up with that?” . . . Like, girl, I FEEL YOU.
Writing on Tumblr was a way for me to feel like I wasn't alone. Other people were going
through the same things I was, feeling the same feels I did.
Because yes, I haven't had the most typical of lives. I've been making movies since I was five years old. And I'm sure some people reading this are thinking “She has no idea what it's like to see the guy who just broke up with you at school every day!” and those people would be right. I don't. I was homeschooled my entire life, but not necessarily because of acting. I have two older brothers, Ryan and Spencer. Ryan is in his thirties, and he was also homeschooled by my parents. Ryan was never an actor; it was just a choice my parents made. Once my brother Spencer started acting, though, the whole homeschooling thing worked out really well. People always ask if I felt isolated or not socialized. But, to be honest, the only thing more dramatic than teen drama, is teen ACTOR drama. All of the emotions, with the most dramatized reactions.
No, I don't know what it's like to see the guy
who dumped you at school every day. BUT, I know what it's like to see the guy who dumped you on TV every day. Or on set every day. Or at events where reporters are talking to him and telling him how brilliant he is and thenâBLAM!âhe also books the biggest movie in the world and then you just know you're gonna see him even MORE than all the time and how is there possibly any more time than all the time andâ
Okay. Sorry . . . Ranting.
The point is, just because I haven't had the same life as a lot of people, I have the same feelings. Just different settings. And so because not everyone in the world uses Tumblr, I thought I'd write this. To be real. To share. So that maybe I can help one person text their ex the appropriate emoji. (Always the squinted-eye, “you ain't foolin' me, honey” one. Just always.)
This IS what matters, folks.
Enjoy.
REASONS TO NOT STALK YOUR EX
No judgment here
.
It's late. You're tired. You know it's wrong, but you still find yourself looking through your ex's Instagram posts. Who liked it? Who commented on it? Is he with a girl?!
The anxiety never ends. I've made the mistake countless times. Stalking your ex is NEVER a good idea.
| 1 | I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt who said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” (Teddy clearly knew heartbreak, imo!) I know we all tend to worry/wonder about the obvious questions: “Is she prettier than me?” “Is she skinnier/curvier than me?” “Does she have bigger boobs than me?” “Was she better in ~sexy situations~ than me?” Tbh, guys don't really think about that. They honestly don't compare. It just doesn't happen; it just doesn't work that way. Trust me. |
| 2 | THEY BROKE UP FOR A REASON. Okay, this is one that's a little more complicated than “it wasn't meant to be,” and I get that. Sometimes maybe he'll tell you, “I broke up with her,” but then you've heard stories that she broke up with him. Or maybe they've had one of those ~annoying~ on-and-off things where they kept breaking up and getting back together over and over again, and your fear is that it all might happen again. So let me save you a little bit of heartache on thisâif you think there's a possibility they're gonna get right back together: STOP NOW. At the end of the day, you never know for sure what's gonna happen, but if you have a suspicion this is |
| 3 | Stalking your bae's ex on social media won't make her relationship with your S.O. disappear. They dated. IT HAPPENED. You have exes, too. Think about it this way, when you're with your current ~lover~ do you always think about your ex? NO! You don't. Instead you worry about THEIR exes. Don't you think maybe your S.O. feels the same? And if you ARE thinking about |
| 4 | And finally: You're worth more than that. You are worthy of being with and being loved and adored. Stressing about your S.O.'s past relationship is crazy. It's in the past. You can't change it. You can't make it go away. History is history. Your only choice is to move on with your life. Realize the person you are with now is with you because they WANT to be WITH YOU. Stressing about past things only adds worry and insecurity, which just isn't ever romantic. |
| 1 | Why did you guys break up? Repeat your breakup convo in your head when you feel like checking his/her news feed. If |
| 2 | It's just one person! This is easier said than doneâBELIEVE me, I know. I have been known to be bedridden over breakups. (It happens.) But at the end of the day, I remind myself that there are more than seven billion people in the world and it's crAzy to let any ONE person dictate my life. Especially one I'm not with anymore. |
| 3 | You can't control them. If they choose to be with someone else, then . . . that sucks. It will hurt. You will ugly cry and most likely send them a billion texts that are incoherent, and you will show up at your best friend's apartment sobbing and begging for cuddles. (Not that this has happened to me or anything . . . ha!) But at the end of the day you can't control them. You have to accept there is a reason you aren't with them anymore. It takes time, but you'll come to peace with it. Trust me, you will. |
| 4 | You are worth more. You will move on and you will be okay. You might not feel it RIGHT now, but I promise you it's true. Life isn't always fair, but love is. Even when you think it's not. You will realize that there are people out there who will want to be with you and treat you right. And hopefully, one day, you can call your ex and have a nice conversation about |
But until then, if you really can't handle seeing their posts . . . Block them. Yes, it seems like an act of war, but your mental health and sanity come first. The only way to not check up on them is to not have the option to. I promise you it will feel SO liberating. They might be pissed, sure. But in time they will understand, and a possible friendship will be more likely if you both have the space and time to rehab your emotions.
At the end of the day, the best thing to do is go to a local park (I am #blessed to call my local park Central Park), turn your phone on Airplane mode (so U don't receive any texts or notifications), and listen to your favorite playlist. I do that before I send any angry texts or look at my ex's profile. At the end of my walk, I've usually calmed down and realized that it's just not worth it.
Then again, sometimes . . .
Well, I'm just curious who that girl is who liked his profile picture on September 8, and now I'm on her cousin's husband's best friend's page . . .
UGH.