When Pamela Seow broke up with her boyfriend a few years ago, she cut up his photos, shredded his love letters and threw away almost every gift and piece of clothing he had given her, including 'a bag that looked like a dead rooster.'
几年前帕梅拉•萧(Pamela Seow)和男友分手时,她剪碎了男友的照片,撕碎了男友给她写的情书,几乎扔掉了男友送给她的所有礼物和衣服,包括一个看起来像只死公鸡的手袋。
'If it's over, it's over,' says the 28-year-old marketing representative. 'I don't believe in holding on to a lost cause.'
28岁的萧是个营销代表。她说,结束了就是结束了,我认为注定无果的事就不要再去坚持了。
Still, Ms. Seow made one exception to her purge: She hung on to Doggy, a stuffed animal given to her by her former partner that she likes to cuddle when she sleeps. 'It's really more out of habit than for sentimental reasons,' she says.
不过,有一样东西萧没有扔掉:她留下了“狗狗”──她的前男友送的毛绒玩具,她喜欢睡觉时抱着它。萧说,这真的更多的是出于习惯,而不是感情上的原因。
What do you do with the detritus of a former relationship? Torch everything? Sell the diamonds? Squirrel away the love letters and photos in the attic?
你会怎样处理上次感情经历留下的东西?把一切付之一炬?把钻石卖掉?把情书和照片藏到阁楼里?
The decision can be complicated, depending not just on the amount of hurt and anger you have coming out of the relationship, but also on how practical and forward-thinking you are.
可能很难做出决定,这不仅取决于你分手后受到的伤害和感到的愤怒,还取决于你有多实际、多么能向前看。
Take Ms. Seow, who lives in Singapore. She tossed out the physical remnants of her last relationship because she doesn't want to have to explain to a future boyfriend why she kept mementos from a previous one. 'And a woman needs all the closet space she can get,' she says.
以住在新加坡的萧为例。她扔掉了上次感情经历留下的东西,因为她不想今后必须向未来的男友解释她为什么要保存前男友的纪念物。她说,而且女人需要任何可以腾出来的壁橱空间。