The conflict between me and my ex is even worse now. I thought divorce would end the conflict, but it seems we are still often arguing about the kids, money, or custody time.” Welcome to episode 47 of Women Who Rebrand! Join Sareta and her special guest, Harriet Shearsmith, Author, Blogger and Podcaster, as they delve into narcissistic mother and adult-daughter dynamics.Harriet knows the challenges of navigating estrangement, toxic family... read more Breaking Free from Codependency: Understanding Attachment Styles E45

Get Divorced, Be Happy: How Becoming Single Turned Out to Be

I kept pursuing the marriage, and compromised all my integrity – and in turn, I gave him full control. Chloe I was married to someone I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be with. But there I was and a year later I ended up pregnant. Jasmine For women in their 20s and 30s – when the rest of the friendship group are often single, in a relationship or newlywed – leaving their marriage can be a particularly isolating time. The judgement and self-stigma that comes with being the divorced one is unsurprisingly difficult to navigate. So if single parenthood is really so good, why the radio silence? Shouldn’t we all be shouting it from the rooftops? T he poet, Holly McNish who loves her life as a single mother, think it’s because mum’s feel guilty gushing about how good they find their child free time to be. In Get Divorced Be Happy she says, Your sage advice for anyone else going through this right now or thinking divorce is the right decision for them?Following years of campaigns to remove the need to ‘blame’ one of the parties seeking Divorce by citing adultery or unreasonable behaviour, the Government has finally responded to calls to reform divorce law. You can still request a divorce/dissolution if you and your spouse/civil partner are living together, but you have to be able to show the court that you were living separately for this time. It felt like someone was repeatedly slapping me across the face with the reality that I hadn’t been good enough for him, and that I was worthless enough to be cheated on. Chloe

Get Divorced, Be Happy by Helen Thorn - Penguin Books Australia Get Divorced, Be Happy by Helen Thorn - Penguin Books Australia

I fell in love with another man, and didn’t want to have an affair, so I left my husband. It didn’t work out with the other man and I have bitterly regretted it ever since (over 10 years ago now). I have never found anyone I loved nearly as much as my ex-husband; it taught me the grass is definitely not greener on the other side. I realise now we had a brilliant (not perfect, but brilliant) marriageFrom the messiness that comes with untangling two lives, splitting assets, facing the dissolution of mutual friendship groups and being ‘too young to be divorced but too old to be single’ in the eyes of society, we speak to women about the highs and lows of starting over and the lessons they learnt when they decided to reclaim their happiness. I now look at my marriage and know, very confidently, that yes, we were definitely not good for each other. Of course, as soon as I left, all the red flags came flooding forward (from the past 6 years of our romantic relationship.) I’ve also come to the wonderful conclusion that I am, and never will be, the victim. I had done everything right and stayed true to my heart. I was committed, faithful, and hardworking. It is CLEAR as day that my husband was/is the victim of his own crimes, and will forever live in the filth and consequences of his actions. I won’t! It had nothing to do with me, and my life has become my own again. Never again will I sacrifice my emotions or boundaries, and I will respect my heart from now on. I have the freedom to do and say whatever I want, and no one will ever take that away from me again. I am victorious, and he is vile. My husband (at the time,) and I had been together for 5 years and married for one (married Sept 2020.) From August 2021-December 2021, he became extremely emotionally abusive and very distant from our love life. He would constantly abandon me at home to go out and party/drink with friends, and he began spending a lot of time at the gym. Whenever I would express concern or hurt, I was downplayed & degraded. It had gotten so bad, that I finally decided to leave him on December 22nd, 2021, and stay the night at my parent’s house. The next morning he called, and finally confessed that he had been cheating on me since the summer. That’s when I knew I had not been crazy all along, and all my emotions had been valid. We are now separated, and I can file for divorce on December 23rd, 2022 (this Christmas.) I will have just turned 28 years old. I realized it when he stopped pursuing me romantically, and when he refused to accommodate my needs as a wife. The night I left, he said straight to my face, “I’m not sure I love you anymore.” The catalyst, in the end, was that I had been warning him to stay away from this one girl in his friend group, all to find out that he’d been having sex with her all along. I had known about her reputation, and he had ensured me that I had nothing to worry about. Turns out, my instincts were correct, and I got played like a fool. Helen is the woman I want in my life when the shit hits the fan. She makes me smile, even at the darkest of times Bryony Gordon