The Art of Saying Goodbye

by - 3:00 PM


'Have fun bye'
Last year I stared at my phone in disgust. 'Have fun bye'? I was going to go abroad for three weeks, I had no idea if there was going to be wifi and the only thing my best friend said was 'Have fun bye'?! I couldn't handle it. Not at all. You see, saying goodbye for a longer period of time is an art form. It's supposed to make you feel something, and I'm not talking about the mild annoyance this text made me feel.
As the months passed, I noticed that my best friend wasn't the only one who isn't great at this kind of goodbye. That's why I'm writing this post: to teach you how to say goodbye like a pro.


In my humble opinion there are five steps in the process of saying goodbye. Don't get them all mixed up or things will get awkward. Believe me, my words are all based on years of experience. Let's just start with step 1, shall we?

Step 1: Spend as much time together as possible
So imagine your best friend is leaving the country for three weeks and you only have one day left with them. What do you do? Well, you certainly aren't going to shrug and say goodbye early, no, you're going to make every second count! You don't have to be in the same room to do this, you can just keep texting or talk on the phone the old fashioned way. But if they tell you they have to go in half an hour, saying goodbye already is a big NO. You better make those 30 minutes count as well!

Step 2: Take a moment of silence
Eventually you will have to say goodbye, but sometimes silence says more than words. Or maybe you just need a little more time to find the right words. Either way it's a good idea to take a moment of silence just before you say goodbye. Just appreciate the fact that you have this person in your life and remember they'll come back soon enough. Then, just before things get awkward, move on to step 3.

Step 3: Saying goodbye with words
Now we've all said 'bye' often enough. Nothing special, nothing difficult about that. But I'm not talking about a normal 'bye' here. This isn't an 'okay bye' kind of occassion. You gotta make this one special. You're gonna put your heart and soul in those words and let that friend of yours know how much you'll miss them!

Step 4: Saying goodbye with actions
You've said what you wanted to say, now do something to make your words count. Give your friend a big hug, hold them tight, show what they mean to you in the way you like best. Or if physical contact isn't really your thing, let your face show them how much you care.

Step 5: Cry on the way out
Now this step is completely optional, but if you're secretly a sobbing emotional mess like me, you might wanna cry directly after your friend's gone. That's how I usually know the goodbye's been good: it's made me feel something.

I'm a firm believer that you should practice what you preach and I usually follow my five steps in real life. I'm the queen of crying after a goodbye. But when it comes to an online goodbye, it's a bit more difficult. You see, this is not just a weird tutorial post. This is also a goodbye. Not a permanent one, but I have decided I need a break from the internet. In a few days I'll be on a plane to Southeast Asia and I won't come home until the second week of August. I usually schedule some posts when I'm gone for such a long time, but I can't put the work in right now while knowing I'm rushing these posts, posts that won't get the love and attention they deserve as I'm not there when they go live. There's also this little thing of me just not feeling it when I'm writing. It makes me sad, but I need to find my writing voice back. I think Southeast Asia is the perfect place to get some time away from the internet and get my shit together. I'm going to miss you all like crazy, but it's for the better. I hope you guys won't forget about me. I'll see you in August...

x Envy

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4 Fellow Ramblers

  1. I hope you have a fantastic time and re-discover your voice :)
    I'm a long-goodbye type of person. Being near, talking, hugging, crying...
    Cora ❤ http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea where my voice went, it's still a mess. But I did have a great time!

      Delete
  2. Oh man, I did NOT see hat twist ending coming! The long goodbye is definitely one of my 'things,' too. Whenever I fly back to Chicago, I wave to my family the entire time I'm going through security. I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip, and come back feeling recharged and ready to take on the world.

    xx
    Emily
    emilyhallock.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The twist ending came later because I needed a goodbye post and had this draft still lying around, hahaha.

      Delete

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