Maybe I Can Use This? by Sydney Salter

I married my first boyfriend--and I still really love him forty years into our relationship. That's great for my personal life, but not so great for my writing, maybe. 

Big dramatic breakups inspire so much artistic output--my playlist and bookshelves are filled with stories of being dumped. I didn't really understand how that felt. And then a long time friend dropped me for reasons that felt really unfair. She forced me into making a decision that gave me no choice given the particular circumstances. I couldn't choose what she wanted so she stopped talking to me after decades of friendship. Ooph. It hit me hard. 

According to Paul Ekman who was a scientific advisor for Disney/Pixar's Inside Out movie, humans experience universal emotions. Anger, contempt, disgust, enjoyment, fear, sadness, and surprise are common feelings in our various life experiences. That's why the sadness, anger, and surprise I felt when my friend suddenly cut me out of her life can be translated to characters who experience a different kind of sudden loss--like a big dramatic breakup.

That's the downside to betraying a writer--we will use it 😈