Recovering from the break-up of a long-term relationship is never easy.

Do you go straight back on the rebound or wallow in self-pity for months on end, never leave the house and binge watch everything on Netflix?

Of course, there is no definitive answer to this problem as it is just something everyone has to go through,.

But one woman in Australia has found a very unique way of dealing with heartache.

Linda Doktar, a 34-year-old conscious coach from the Gold Coast, separated from her partner last year and during her journey, she decided to marry herself.
Yes, that's right Linda got tied-the-knot with herself on Valentine's Day in a romantic and intimate ceremony on the beach.

You are probably asking, 'how and why would someone get married to themselves?'

While ceremonies like this do happen, they are not legally binding. However, they are seen as a symbol of self-respect and valuing oneself.

Linda says she heard of the concept from her friend Ej, who held the wedding. She is quoted by Lad Bible as saying:

"Ej had just begun to hold these ceremonies for others, and I thought this was a beautiful concept to symbolise my journey into loving and honouring myself on a deeper level.

I thought this was a beautiful concept to symbolise my journey into loving and honouring myself on a deeper level.

Ej asked me to write my vows and commitments for my special day. She also asked me to choose a dress and a song that would mean a lot to me.

There was a red satin walkway, lined with rose petals and flowers, it was beautiful.

As the ceremony progressed, I read my vows and commitments out loud to myself, while looking into a hand-held mirror.

I didn't have any guests, it was just Ej and her two assistants for the photos.

I decided to wear a long white summer dress with pastel colours and instead of a ring I wore a necklace that symbolised my commitment to myself."

When I look back at my ceremony I smile because it reminds me of a turning point in my life when I decided to connect to deeper levels of self-love and self-connection.

It put me on a path to a better relationship with myself.

The ceremony itself only cost Linda a few hundred dollars and, although she had faced judgment, she has vowed that she will love herself for the rest of her life.

"I believe that the most important relationship I will ever have is with myself. I know and understand that the quality of the relationship we have with ourselves determines the quality of experiences we have with others.

"Our external world is a complete reflection of our internal world. Some people have judged me, and I have been laughed at, but I've mostly been received with love and an open mind.

Many people thought it was a beautiful concept. When I look back at my ceremony I smile because it reminds me of a turning point in my life when I decided to connect on a deeper level.

I am a conscious woman who knows who she is and knows what my self-marriage ceremony meant for me personally.

After being disconnected from myself for so many years, I now plan to continue on my journey of self-love. This has significantly improved the state of my internal happiness and the relationship and connections I now experience outside of myself."

This isn't the first time that someone getting married to themselves has made headlines, although they don't always end happily ever after.

Last year, Sophie Tanner appeared on an episode of This Morning after she revealed that she had an affair despite marrying herself in 2015.

https://www.indy100.com/article/woman-marry-break-up-beach-wedding-relationship-australia-linda-doktar-8469651

fUNNY thing is, "She still cheated on herself"