Our town. Is tiny. Ask any Novocastrian on any given day. I grew up with my parents saying; “I hope I don’t run into anyone I know,” and yet it always happens. Sometimes though, there are just some people that you really (really) don’t want to run into. Like your least favourite co-worker, that over friendly person whose name you can never remember or… your ex. Look it happens everywhere, and as they say time heals all wounds but sometimes you’re just not emotionally ready for that sort of encounter. Sometimes, you’re just not ever ready for such an encounter. It’s just the way life goes. So here is a handy dandy introverts guide to avoiding your ex breakups.
Get a new favourite place and love it unconditionally.
Sometimes the real cost of a breakup, isn’t in the heartbreak, the torment, or anything like that. It’s the place with the good seats, the best coffee and the barista that knows your order off by heart. But instead of hurting through two breakups, navigate through one, and take charge of the other. Now is your chance to find a better, brighter, newer place. You just never know how wonderful this journey will be. Change up your routine, meet some new people, tell your favourite anecdotes to a whole new barista and find a new niche. Just like getting to know a new partner, getting to know a new local, is actually a really exciting experience. Daunting at first, a little awkward at second, but before you know it, you’ll walk in the door and see a Melbourne bitter waiting on the bar for you.
Headphones work wonders
The bigger and more noise cancelling the better. To me, this is a visual queue of ‘please don’t talk to me I have my headphones on’. It’s also the easiest and most efficient way to emulate invisibility. You can kind of trope around, loving life, living blissfully. You also can’t hear when someone yells at you “I love you please come back to me why did you leeeaaaavvvveeee”. Hot tip, they don’t even have to be plugged into anything. You do you.
Use Tinder in Public
Personally I don’t care for Tinder. Not for anything serious anyway. It’s more for bantering with your mates about the weird one liners you get sent. Dating from the comfort of your bedroom as they say. But if you’re walking around ‘playing’ tinder, and the one person you don’t want to run into, runs into you (like physically runs into you because you’re looking down at your phone), there are no words required in the forthcoming conversation. Crisis averted.
Activate Ghost Mode – Immediately (and not just on snapchat)
It’s actually ok to disappear for a little while. In no way shape or form is this a bad thing. If you want to go and hang out in the burbs for a week or so, do that. If you want to go on a random road trip and stay in a log cabin, you do that too. If you want to simply stay at home drinking Aldi Wine on the porch, bloody well do that too. Also, you should probably activate ghost mode on snapchat. That feature is creepy, weird and quite frankly down right disturbing.
Find your person.
My last, and most important tip. Find your person. This is simply a person who has your back, who gets you, who will patiently hear you ramble on about a crazy idea and probably bounce that idea around with you. It’s about finding someone to simply waste the day away with, someone who will actually listen to you speak, but will also be blunt and upfront when you need them to. It could mean making a new mate, or at least being open to that, or catching up with that friend who you haven’t seen in years. This is the most important step. Because everyone needs a person. This I know for sure.
