So Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are breaking up.
For a person who doesn’t follow celebrity news and gossip, I couldn’t escape this announcement yesterday. My Facebook and Twitter feeds were filled with jokes about Gwyneth’s proclamation of their “conscious uncoupling.” As in, why can’t she just call it a divorce?
So, for the first time ever, I visited her website goop to see what the fuss was about.
Gwyneth’s announcement was classy.
No matter what the reason, making a decision to permanently dissolve a relationship is difficult. I’m not a believer in “happily ever afters.” Keeping a marriage healthy is challenging. It requires constant communication, knowing what to sacrifice, and knowing what not to sacrifice. Marriage is a tricky balance of being a couple without losing yourself. My husband and I are going on 12 years of marriage and we still don’t have it all figured out. I doubt we’ll ever get things perfect.
I have no idea why these two beautiful, talented people are getting divorced. It’s not any of my business. I respect that they tried to make it work. She’s poured time, love, and energy into her marriage and I’m sure Chris has done the same. Admitting that your marriage is over is admitting defeat. In a life where reporters and paparazzi try to dictate her story in the media, Gwyneth wanted to tell her version before it becomes twisted by the tabloids.
Taking control of her story will be important for their family, especially their children. My husband is a child of divorce, and his parents’ divorce was not pleasant at all. No matter how much his mother tried to shield him from it, divorce changes a child. Luckily my husband had the advantage of not seeing his parents’ messy divorce plastered all over newsstands. This won’t be the case for Apple and Moses Martin.
Whether you’re a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow or not, give her a break. Let her family heal and figure out their new dynamic.
