My boyfriend broke up with me about six weeks ago after our year long relationship. I can’t say I understand why, and I can’t say I’ve had an easy time of it. I feel like I’ve been making progress, but lately I find myself grieving for what we had in common.

My ex and I work in the same field and have a lot in common. We attend the same meetups and professional groups. We live in the same area and enjoy many of the same bars and restaurants. The break has been a clean one (I haven’t seen or heard from him), but I’ve also stopped going to some of the events I love and stopped doing some of the things I love because it reminds of him so much. How can I add these things back into to my life? Will it just take time?

We also had a ton of mutual friends, and I feel like I’ve lost or neglected some of them, too. Seeing or hearing from certain people, even though I know they truly care, hurts so much. The only thing I want is to ask about my ex, and I almost feel like I have to make a clean break from them, too.

Even though I hold very little malice towards my ex, I’m filled with dread about bumping into him for the first time (which is inevitable). I feel like I’ll shatter into a million pieces and break down right there. I’m ashamed of this because a major problem was that I had assigned a lot more meaning to the relationship than he did. Thanks for your thoughts.