Party Status: Single!

Yesterday, my divorce was finalized.

It's a mixed bag of emotions and I was glad that I had plans to spend the day with one of my best friends doing fun stuff. I was with her when I received the official paperwork for the finalization. I read it out loud and there was one line of the legalese that made us both laugh:

The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken. Therefore, the marriage between the parties is dissolved, and the parties are restored to the status of being single.

Though the idea of a marriage being "irretrievably broken" is not an easy phrase to admit to, the second line gave us a short phrase we'd use to celebrate the joyful part of this experience throughout the day.

Every few hours my friend would ask me out of the blue: "What's your party status?"

To which I'd reply: "Single!"

I'd tilt my head side-to-side when I said it, like I was singing the best line in a song, you know the kind you play to feel empowered and happy to be alive. Sometimes I'd even raise and arm into the air with a finger pointing to the sky.

This little call and response set a playful tone for the rest of the day. We spent the day having lunch on the water, visiting Banyan trees on the Pier in St. Pete, getting gelato (or for me, an affogato, one of my most favorite things in the world), and then kayaking through mangroves at Weedon Island.

I had playlist of songs I had made for this time in my life, so we listened to those and sang along on our drive back to Tampa.

Single life is treating me well so far.

But the thing is, I planned for this. I knew this would be an emotional time so I made sure that I day trip planned with one of my besties to get me through the hard moments. When my emotions came up, my friend was there to hold space for me. I got to enjoy new experiences and make new memories. It all helped me to be able to reply to her repeating question of, "What's your party status?" with an enthusiastic, "SINGLE!"

If you're going through a divorce or any other planned hard times in your life, may you be able to surround yourself with helpful people, get yourself into new and fun experiences, and be able to be excited about your new party status.

Transitions are hard, but you have to power to create ease in the discomfort.