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How Divorce Prepares You For a Pandemic
It’s one of life’s most stressful events, after all
On the chart of the most stressful events in life, divorce comes right after the death of a loved one. In many ways, divorce feels like a death — something has ended and couples, no matter who decided to end the marriage or not, often go through the five stages of grief. Some get stuck in one of the stages, but many get through them. And then they they often learn things about themselves, life, their beliefs, and can start fresh.
Living through a pandemic is not on that chart for some reason, but it sure feels stressful as many of us face so many emotional, physical and emotional unknowns.
Still, as a woman who experienced two divorces — one in my 20s, without children after a short-lived marriage, and one in my 40s with two children after a 14-year marriage — I believe they have prepared me for the emotional realities of living through the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s how:
You learn to live with uncertainty — We talk about marriage as “until death” and “locking shit down.” There’s a certain amount of certainty we attach to marriage — we’ll never be alone, we’ll have someone who has our back, we can count on our best friend. Marriage is forever, right? Well, divorce takes all of that…
