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LIFE | Noah Brier

Getting Personal

This is my life.

September 18, 2006 | RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | 17 COMMENTS

[Editor's Note: I try not to get too personal around here. This is an exception to that rule. This is my website and my life. This is where I think out loud and I believe it's important everyone know who I am. But more than that, I just want to share with you all. I try to give as much as I can here and this is just one of those times I need a little back.]

I broke up with my girlfriend of almost two years this weekend. It was mutual. We both reached a point where we realized that we would probably never reach that place. I think it was a good decision: The right decision.

It was far from easy, but as they say, the hardest things never are.

Needless to say, I'm feeling fairly emotional. I think I've been trying to avoid myself for the last 24 hours, but it's time to face up. I've got my favorite sad music going and it's just me, my mind and an empty page.

The hardest part is trying to parse the thoughts about the comforts of the relationship from the relationship itself. At some point the two became so intertwined it seems impossible to untangle them.

It's easy to miss the comforts of being together: The evening phone calls, the person to share exciting news with, the person to hold. What's hardest at this very moment is imagine a world without all those things.

But of course I will survive, and so will she. We will cease to be linked in a way we once were, though hopefully the relationship can continue to grow in different ways. The thing is, I have no idea what those different ways will be and that's scary.

It's hard to look the future in the face without someone to hold your hand.

That especially difficult since I pride myself in my ability to look into future. Much of my life revolves around my ability to untangle complex puzzles and extract the deeper meaning that lays beneath. I'm hardly ever my own test subject, however. I don't get paralyzed by indecision or fear and I probably have more self-confidence than I should. I converse on a level with people much older and more experienced than myself on a regular basis.

All of this means that I often forget how young I am.

This is relatively new to me. Obviously I realize that the emotions will dissipate over time no matter how much that may not seem true at this very moment. But it's still hard to face myself: To be honest and realize I have no idea how to deal with this.

When I was a kid I turned to my mother and told her my take on the meaning of life. It didn't seem like an overly complicated explanation at the time, but it struck a chord with her. I just said, "it's what you make of it."

I don't believe in fate or free will, but rather a hybrid of the two. Something to the effect of we are all nodes in a giant sea of possible connections. With each decision a whole new set of paths opens up. Each path has an infinite number of endpoints depending on which sub-paths you choose. More and more I believe no path is right or wrong: It just is.

As with every other decision, my path has shifted.

When the shift seems so large, though, its hard to remember its a small decision in a giant sea. One of my greatest aggravations is when people lose track of the larger picture when small hiccups arise. Sometimes I have trouble being empathetic in those moments. In my work life, I am far better at flying high above the trees and seeing the forest.

I don't want to disconnect myself here, though. I want to feel it. I want to understand it. I want to learn as much as I can from it.

I want to grow from it.

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COMMENTS

1Loren Feldman

What will be will be.

Keep your chin up kid. Yeah I called you kid, christ I hate that I'm even able to.

September 18, 2006

2Noah Brier

Thanks man. I really appreciate it.

After I wrote this I spoke to my mother and she reminded me of something really important: Sometimes emotions defy logic. I spend so much time trying to understand one side of people that I sometimes forget about the other.

It's actually kind of funny, because I think a lot of themes that have been circling around in my head lately actually speak more to the emotional side than the logical one.

Sometimes things just can't be explained: They've got to be experienced.

September 18, 2006

3Max Kalehoff

Noah,
Hang in there. Breakups suck. Let me take you out for a few (or many) stiff drinks.
Max

September 18, 2006

4Max Kalehoff

Noah,
One other thing -- regarding your comment number two about emotions. I'm a data wonk, so I'll lay it out: Research has shown that, in some circumstances, people actually make poor decisions when their emotional feelers go down, and rationality takes over. So, just embrace it, as your mother said.
Max

September 18, 2006

5Leah Brier

One thing that helps me in situations where I lose part of myself is doing two things. First, I try and think about things that I have taken away from the situation, things that I have learned. I know you will do that instinctively, but do it from your heart and not your head. How did being in a relationship change your life in your emotional intelligence realm? Second, I try and think about what is upsetting me most about what is wrong, what am I going to miss the most, what hurts and why. It helps seperate the nature instinct to tense up with a big change, and to find where the epicenter of saddness, hurt and missing really exist.

September 18, 2006

6Noah Brier

Thanks everyone, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It was really hard to hit publish on this entry. In fact I left my house right afterwards to make sure I wouldn't change my mind and take it down, but the outpouring of support (both by comment and email) has been incredible. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate it.

September 18, 2006

7Stephanie

If you "converse on a level with people much older than yourself and are more experienced," perhaps they would have told you to keep your private life private!

September 18, 2006

8Noah Brier

Stephanie, I'm sorry you feel that way.

September 18, 2006

9Megan

Stephanie, that's a real shame. You should know that one of the foremost tenets of a blog is to have conversations with other people, to establish a community. And what good is a blog if you can't lean on that community for a little support once in awhile? Getting a little personal from time to time isn't just necessary--it's the human condition.

Noah, as someone who's had a hard time removing herself from the velvet curtain lately, I appreciate your honesty and words o' wisdom. A friend reminded me yesterday to take things a day at a time, to figure out how I feel, and go from there. Simple, but true. And in the meantime, take comfort in good friends, good music and the occasional stiff drink.

September 19, 2006

10kareem

hey buddy, sounds like you're going about things the right way, even though it's tough.

re: emotions... i just finished dan pink's "a whole new mind", which i think you'd like... one of the takeaways I had from it was that despite how much we try and be rational, logical, analytic, and manage everything in our lives (healthcare, relationships, bosses, employees, digital music, finances, etc), life is inherently messy. there's real joy in embracing that messiness and its ups and downs; it's what makes us human.

September 19, 2006

11Ed Batista

Hey Noah,

I'm really sorry to hear this and I hope you're doing OK.

In contrast to what Stephanie said above, I'm glad you shared your thoughts, and I felt you did a great job of striking the right balance between the professional and the personal. It's a challenge I wrestle with all the time on my own site, given that it's a vehicle for both my work AND my life.

This may or may not be for you, but I've found Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart" really valuable during some tough times in my life.

Good luck.

Ed

September 20, 2006

12Noah Brier

Thanks Ed and everyone else who commented and emailed. I can't tell you all how much it meant to me to have people there for me when I needed it most.

September 20, 2006

13Jason

I'm not good with advice, whether it's of the relationship or career or gambling variety.

What I am good at is the occasional, aimless, mid-afternoon coffee/walk. Topics of conversation will include how Andy Reid's conservatism rejuvenated my fall, why you should join Netflix, and a West Wing Season Three primer.

So in the next week, if (when) the day starts getting away from you, let's take a walk. Schedule something in CM.

September 21, 2006

14Stephanie

Megan-

Can't believe another woman would actually think that it is OK for a "significant other" to discuss their private business on the internet - how would you feel if your significant other posted intimate details about your relationship without your permission or prior knowledge? Of course, it is OK to talk about it with close friends, but not for the world to see...

September 21, 2006

15Noah Brier

Stephanie, I'm not going to defend what I wrote here other than to make clear it was not to hurt anyone, especially my significant other.

I am going to defend the community, however. A lot of the people who read this site are my 'close' friends, some I've met in person and some I haven't. In fact, I've had 'real' contact with all but one of the people who commented on what I wrote here.

September 21, 2006

16jeff

Whoa! There is not a single sentence in this entire post that could be considered too personal, too revealing or unfair to Noah's ex. There is also an unhealthy precedent you'd be setting by applying restrictions to the manner or means of expression used by Noah on HIS OWN website. As for the "Can't believe another woman..." comment...it's probably the most senseless and immature piece of your comment as it somehow makes claim that woman own privacy and emotion. Once again, the sexually proported myth furthered by the Maureen Dowd's of the world that humankind would be just peachy if women sat in judgment. Not pleased. Not pleased at all.

September 22, 2006

17rose

Jeff...do you have mommy issues? All that hate for women will really come back and bite you in the ass. What myth are you even referring to? To me, I think it's great-this generation of blogging. Whether it's right or wrong to post intimate details about ones ex regarding their relationship I don't feel is my place to judge but I can tell ya this, personally I wouldn't want it to happen to me.

September 22, 2006