There are things you didn't say because you were too afraid or because you didn't know how to say them. There are secrets you keep. There are things that happened and he hasn't heard. There are feelings in your heart that he needs to know.
But texting your ex is rarely a great idea. Your relationship ended for a reason, you'll regret it and it won't make a difference.
Still, sometimes the words you want to say burn inside you, demanding release.
Sean Drohan has the answer. The Princeton graduate was having lunch with a friend when he decided to create a Google Doc called "things I wanna text my ex." Drohan told Refinery 29, "There's plenty I would like to say to my exes (and too much I've already said)... People enjoy anonymous opportunities to cry into the ether. There's kind of this unanswered question of to whom we say these things and why, but that's what's interesting."
The things people say range from angry to bittersweet to happy. So here's what 27 people anonymously wrote in the document instead of to their ex:
1. Im scared I wont love anybody else the way I loved you.
2. I still have your Netflix account
3. My therapist says Ill be your biggest regret, but I pay him to say things like that.
4. Im so sorry. I wish I had fallen in love with you.
5. I miss you just a little bit every day. Its just enough that sometimes I dont notice it, but its also just enough that it constantly feels like a little part of me is missing.
6. Testing if my number is still blocked
7. I wore your deodorant all the time. Thats why you were always running out.
8. Its less losing you and more being mad at my own brain for not being able to stop caring about a morally reprehensible person.
9. I wish I could stop thinking about you because I know you never think of me
10. I know you still want to be friends, but please understand that I cut you out of my life because having you in it now just breaks my heart.
11. I wish you would act like the person I met and dated in the beginning.
12. "Thank you for teaching me how to love."
13. "I can't stop stalking you on Facebook. Your girlfriend is really pretty and I miss you so much."
14. I broke up with you because you refused to listen to Hamilton with me and I know you just saw it with your entire family.
15. Im happy youre thriving but sad that you didnt want to include me in your future.
16. "I'm the one who slashed your tires."
17. "I know I can do better than you in theory but truth is, I don't want to."
18. "You and I were never meant to be. You were mad at me for having the courage to break it off."
19. "I wish you told me it was because you stopped loving me. Truth hurts but lies hurt more."
20. "After you broke up with me I went to your pantry, a sobbing mess, and stole your Nutella lol."
21. When you venmoed me your half of the couch and desk at work, I went to the bathroom. I cried. Thank god for single-stall, gender-neutral bathrooms.
22. "I've never been able to remember for sure if I told you that I loved you, which may be related to the fact that I've never been able to remember for sure if I, in fact, loved you."
23. "My biggest regret was ever kissing you. In that moment, I crossed the line that best friends could never cross."
24. "I'm sorry that I still need you but can't be with you."
25. "My mom has cancer and I don't know how to tell you. Or if I even should."
26. "You're probably better off now anyway."
27. I dont think there will ever be a time in my life where you will not be somebody I would still like to be with.
But texting your ex is rarely a great idea. Your relationship ended for a reason, you'll regret it and it won't make a difference.
Still, sometimes the words you want to say burn inside you, demanding release.
Sean Drohan has the answer. The Princeton graduate was having lunch with a friend when he decided to create a Google Doc called "things I wanna text my ex." Drohan told Refinery 29, "There's plenty I would like to say to my exes (and too much I've already said)... People enjoy anonymous opportunities to cry into the ether. There's kind of this unanswered question of to whom we say these things and why, but that's what's interesting."
The things people say range from angry to bittersweet to happy. So here's what 27 people anonymously wrote in the document instead of to their ex:
1. Im scared I wont love anybody else the way I loved you.
2. I still have your Netflix account
3. My therapist says Ill be your biggest regret, but I pay him to say things like that.
4. Im so sorry. I wish I had fallen in love with you.
5. I miss you just a little bit every day. Its just enough that sometimes I dont notice it, but its also just enough that it constantly feels like a little part of me is missing.
6. Testing if my number is still blocked
7. I wore your deodorant all the time. Thats why you were always running out.
8. Its less losing you and more being mad at my own brain for not being able to stop caring about a morally reprehensible person.
9. I wish I could stop thinking about you because I know you never think of me
10. I know you still want to be friends, but please understand that I cut you out of my life because having you in it now just breaks my heart.
11. I wish you would act like the person I met and dated in the beginning.
12. "Thank you for teaching me how to love."
13. "I can't stop stalking you on Facebook. Your girlfriend is really pretty and I miss you so much."
14. I broke up with you because you refused to listen to Hamilton with me and I know you just saw it with your entire family.
15. Im happy youre thriving but sad that you didnt want to include me in your future.
16. "I'm the one who slashed your tires."
17. "I know I can do better than you in theory but truth is, I don't want to."
18. "You and I were never meant to be. You were mad at me for having the courage to break it off."
19. "I wish you told me it was because you stopped loving me. Truth hurts but lies hurt more."
20. "After you broke up with me I went to your pantry, a sobbing mess, and stole your Nutella lol."
21. When you venmoed me your half of the couch and desk at work, I went to the bathroom. I cried. Thank god for single-stall, gender-neutral bathrooms.
22. "I've never been able to remember for sure if I told you that I loved you, which may be related to the fact that I've never been able to remember for sure if I, in fact, loved you."
23. "My biggest regret was ever kissing you. In that moment, I crossed the line that best friends could never cross."
24. "I'm sorry that I still need you but can't be with you."
25. "My mom has cancer and I don't know how to tell you. Or if I even should."
26. "You're probably better off now anyway."
27. I dont think there will ever be a time in my life where you will not be somebody I would still like to be with.
