Finding ways to cope with your loss after a divorce can be difficult. Even if everything is in order financially and practically because you got a good lawyer, your emotions may still be a crazy jumble.

Sandra Bullock, an Oscar-winning actress, described herself as “permanently broken” after her divorce from Jesse James. She shied away from the public eye, and her career was on hold for months while she recuperated from the divorce. So what helped bring her back into the world? She was offered a part in a new movie, and she took it.

Like Bullock, many divorcees find comfort and relief from overwhelming emotional pain by picking up work or hobbies that they enjoy. Maybe you’ve wanted to learn how to fence, or how to knit. Maybe the local animal shelter needs help walking their dogs or introducing them to potential adopters. There are many things you should be able to find to fill your life after divorce. And those things are not just to fill your life: they are to add to it, enrich it, and make you whole again.

Some people find comfort in friends. They find the company of others exhilarating, and it helps them cope with all of the terrible things they are feeling. When they feel like it’s the end, they can lean on someone’s shoulder and talk about how they feel. Use them to bring you to your feet again.

Anyone can suffer long-lasting effects from a divorce, even if it was cordial. It honestly doesn’t matter who you are, or what kind of life you lead. Grieving and building something new from the rubble left behind is one of the most important steps in healing your broken heart after divorce.

Even when it feels impossible, healing will come with time and effort. Your life can be happy again, and it will be, even after a separation in California.