Michelle Carlton is a freelance writer and editor from a small town in eastern Pennsylvania. She recently graduated from Syracuse University with a dual degree in psychology and magazine journalism, a combination that taught her how to incorporate Freudian dream analysis into articles about ska music. Along the way to discovering her career goals, she’s earned paychecks as a cheese steak chef, a lab technician, and a telemarketer.

When Michelle’s long-term, long-distance boyfriend recently faded out of the picture, she decided she needed a clean slate to truly start over. So she traded in the small-town life for a new city, unemployment for freelance gigs, and the comfort of “we” for the exciting-and-terrifying world of “me.” So far, keeping her eyes planted firmly on her future has helped with the whole ‘moving on’ thing.

Two things Michelle has learned about recovering from a fresh relationship wound are:

1. Distraction helps; alcohol hurts (as my ex has found out first-hand).
2. Never let someone else dictate your timeline of ‘getting over it.’ It might take a week to stop crying and another year to eat burritos without thinking about him, but there’s no rush.