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Long relationships don't only create memories; partners can gradually incorporate shared activities, social circles, routines, and goals into how they understand themselves.
Relationship researchers call part of this process self-expansion.
After a breakup, people may therefore experience uncertainty about who they are independently of the former relationship.
Developing new activities and reconnecting with independent parts of life can help rebuild that sense of self.
Sometimes after losing “us,” a person has to rediscover what belongs to “me.”
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