A lot has happened in the last ten years of my life: I’ve gotten braces, removed my braces, gone through heartbreak, made it through puberty, started working out, graduated from high school, graduated from university, and am working a job I used to only dream about.
All of these things have shaped me as a person and, over time, changed me. We change a lot in one year, let alone ten. Our personalities change, how we view the world changes and, with both of those things, our relationships change. The people who were in my life ten years ago are not all in my life now (props to those who are still around and aren’t sick of me yet).
When we apply all this^ to Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus’ relationship, suddenly their breakup makes a lot more sense. The couple were together for a decade in total. They worked through teenagehood to adulthood, a breakup, Liam’s rise to superstardom and Miley’s weird twerking phase.
They grew together but they also changed together – that’s what relationships are, after all.
But where some relationships can survive change, others cannot. People grow apart – it’s a cliché because it’s true.
Liam has officially filed for divorce and his reason makes total sense: “irreconcilable differences.”
According to divorce records obtained by PEOPLE and TMZ, Liam and Miley couldn’t work through their individual changes. They’re two different people who just didn’t work together.
Miley and Liam have always ben a little different – when they split in 2013 they spent three years apart and thrived during that time. Miley launched her Bangerz era and Liam worked on The Hunger Games franchise. They didn’t need each other to be their best selves.
Still, Liam and Miley found their way back to each other and got married in December 2018.
I’m skeptical that it was destined to be: I think it was destined not to be. Not because they didn’t make each other happy (I’m sure they did), and not because they ween’t right for each other (I’m sure they were at some point), but because forcing yourself to be perfect for someone isn’t the same as actually being perfect for someone. Sometimes it just takes you a little while – or in Miley and Liam’s case, 10 years, one breakup, a bunch of adopted dogs and one marriage – to realise it.
Celebrities commonly cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for divorce. But this isn’t exclusive to Hollywood: it’s a reason lots of people in the world file for divorce. It’s not salacious or sexy or scandalous, it’s totally normal. Growth is part of life and growing a part is also a part of life.
Liam and Miley’s divorce makes total sense. I’m sad to see them end, I’m sad they couldn’t work it out, and yes, a part of me died along with their relationship. But I get it. I’ve been there. We all have.