The heartbreaking reality of heartbreak, beautifully told in a 16-part comic.
Heartbreak is real.
The end of a relationship can be painful. "You'll get over it," "There are plenty of fish in the sea," "Time heals all wounds," and other platitudes, however well meaning, don't really make things better.
Cherlyn Chong knows something about the pain of heartbreak.
28-year-old Chong, who was born and raised in Singapore, spent some time in the U.S., and now lives in Singapore again, experienced some pain recently.
Photo provided by Cherlyn Chong, used with permission.
Four months ago, the man she was planning to marry — the one who'd bought a ring and everything — ended their relationship.
And she was heartbroken.
But in "a gesture of defiance, closure and expression of my feelings all rolled into one," she told me via email, she created this comic. "An added bonus is that it's a pretty nifty way to explain the breakup to my friends," she said.
If you've ever experienced a broken heart — or if you're healing from one right now — this might resonate.
Chong wants her comic to help others understand that they're not alone in their pain.
"They can and will get out of it by loving themselves just a little bit more," she told me.
She created an even longer version of this comic, which has really resonated with a lot of people, and she shared it on her website. Because the response was so positive, she also created a 30-day healing course for others working through the same heartache she recently experienced.
Comics are a great way to relate to real-life situations.
I love that we can look at a comic, feel understood, and also feel a little bit lighter about whatever it is that we're going through — and maybe others can understand a little better, too. "Comic cartoons have a way of making people feel safe," Chong told me. "It's nice to take the pain out for a bit, look at it from another perspective."
And in the case of heartbreak, removing a tiny bit of pain for even a short period of time is welcome. Even more important is to know that you're not the only one going through it — and you will be in a better place one day.
As Chong said, "There are just so many people struggling and finding it so hard to reach out, and it can be comforting to know that a stranger is feeling the exact same things you are."
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.