The Greatest Show On Earth
Being broken up with is one of life’s more challenging experiences. It’s opening night, it’s a full house, and you’re being recited a well-rehearsed script that you never got a chance to look over. Stammering and stuttering, you try to find the right words to say, painstakingly making it up as you go. Then, in the blink of an eye, you’re thrown into the center ring of the circus and tonight, you’re the star attraction.
“Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages!” the ringmaster calls out. “Step right up and take a seat in the stands and behold the incredible Woman Who Was Just Dumped! Watch as she juggles the Urgency of needing answers this very instant, the Panic of not being able to accept that it's over, the Pride in maintaining her dignity, and the Inadequacy of not having been enough, all while she delicately balances on Not Fucking Losing It! Watch as we then proceed to tie her to this spinning wheel while the knife thrower expertly hurls daggers through her heart! Then we’ll roll her into a ball, stuff her in a cannon, and blast her off to You’re On Your Fucking Own!”
Except it doesn't end there. Once you recover from having been violently catapulted back to a reality you weren't prepared for, you better regain your strength and pick up that shovel because it's time to start digging. Put your back into it and don't stop until you've dug a pit deep enough to bury the Emotions and Memories because these ruthless bitches are still very much alive and they aren't aren't going down without a fight. Let's hope you win because these guys aren't fucking around, and if you give them the opportunity, they will hold you hostage and torture and torment you until you're reduced to something that barely resembles a shadow of your former self. If you do manage to subdue them, don't try to take the easy way out and bury them in a shallow grave because the slightest of winds and lightest of rains will bring it all right back to the surface, and you'll have to repeat the entire process, however many times it takes.
But once it's all said and done, despite how physically and emotionally depleted you are—standing there cut and bruised, drenched in your blood, sweat, and tears—how shell shocked you may be as you gaze upon the broken fragments of a life that once was scattered about you, you take a good look around because you know it's the last time you'll be standing there, at least, in that very spot. You know you will move on and away from this, stronger from having endured it, and in time, the bleak and desolate, barren wasteland in your heart—once ridden with a number of unmarked graves—will blazingly transform into rolling hills, emerald pastures, and endless miles of dazzling lavender fields of vibrant purples with the rise of the most resplendent and illuminating sunrise that will set the sky and your heart afire.