clean up your act

Persephone, 31, is divorced, lives alone and is currently unemployed and recovering from a broken romance which has left her in a total mess – but after a big clean up of her living space she was able to see some light ahead and is now working towards cleaning up her mental space.

"When I feel totally cleansed – when I am totally ‘over’ Peter – it would be nice to be able to afford a self-indulgent splurge," smiles Persephone. "I would book myself into a beauty salon and get the works; I'd visit the top boutique in town and get a new outfit; I'd hop on a plane and enjoy a trip to anywhere; I'd go skiing or I'd go see a big, flash concert or show."

"In that sense the rich do have a huge advantage over the poor," adds Persephone, "but no amount of money helps you get through the internal healing, the soul stuff, the period from a broken heart to the point where you want to feel like going on a self-indulgent splurge."

"When you've reached the stage where you're ready to put a smile on your face - and you don't have money to splurge - you learn to enjoy the simple things in life," says Persephone. "A long walk usually makes me feel good, and if I can't stand looking at my sad face tomorrow I might try that and see how I feel afterwards."

"In my case, though," adds Persephone, "being back to where I was before I'd met Peter would satisfy me. For the three months I'd been with him I didn't think about finding a job at all. I thought he was the one! I couldn't think of anything else besides him."

"So, being sufficiently whole, happy and healed – to me, right now – means getting back to job hunting," explains Persephone. "And if time doesn't heal my broken heart then the sight of a falling bank balance will certainly do the trick!"

Read more stories about Persephone:

the big cleanup

unusual situations need special care