If you want your life to change, you’ve got to change something.

That’s what I tell my children. Now I’m telling you. The only person I don’t have to tell is Samantha Jones, formerly of Sex And The City and famously not of And Just Like That.

At the start of the spinoff series, we were told the fourth musketeer had put the other three as well as NYC in her rearview.

According to Carrie, “I told [Samantha] because of what the book business is now, it just didn’t make sense for me to keep her on as a publicist. She said, ‘Fine,’ then fired me as a friend.” Then, the 60-something siren moved to the UK.

Perhaps, ending their professional relationship might’ve caused some hurt feelings, but wouldn’t have ended that friendship. I think boredom did.

Read More: In the New, Over-50 Edition of Sex and the City, One Friendship Doesn’t Last

Samantha: Different Than the Rest

Samantha always was and still is the only true independent thinker of the fashionable quartet. Carrie, Miranda, and especially Charlotte all wanted to go the traditional route and get married, while the PR exec liked flying solo. And as far as children were concerned, she didn’t care whom her abject disdain for little ones offended. The entrepreneur not only funded her own life with her own successful business but even wanted to buy her own jewelry.

I’m all for the beauty of female friendship but it’s also OK to want to move on, reinvent.

The differences between Samantha and the other women finally caught up to her and at some point, no matter how many Cosmos people have imbibed, even the most hysterical, you-had-to-be-there stories lose their charm. (Even on the last episode of The Sopranos, Tony was having difficulty sitting through yet another “Remember the time…” session with his mob cronies.)

I’m all for the beauty of female friendship—and the remaining trio proves this kind of love can last—but it’s also OK to want to move on, reinvent, and hit the reset button without being shamed or guilted for breaking up the band.

Breaking Out of Routines

Samantha had lived and loved (actually lusted) in Manhattan for over 40 years. Not only had she traveled her own journey but that of the others as well. I don’t think I have to go that far out on a limb to believe she’d heard all she ever again needed to hear about Big, Steve, Harry, and lest we forget, Aiden, as well as the Gen Z exploits of Brady, Lily, and Rose. I bet listening to Carrie and Miranda’s current dating woes would be not only déjà vu all over again, but enough to make her plug both ears with her manicured index fingers while reciting la-la-la-la-la.

Can you blame her for wanting to make some new memories?

Can you blame her for wanting to make some new memories?

A quick search of the Internet under the heading “benefits of changing your life” offered all the reasons why she must have thought it a good idea.

Some of the highlights I found are just the sheer excitement you experience when you begin a new chapter and the fact that a change of scenery can also bring new opportunities, as progress begets progress.

There’s also the confidence you gain when you try something new, as well as the realization that you can be flexible, so the next time a forced–not chosen–change comes around, you can handle it because you’ve adapted before.

Of course, not everyone can just up and head to another country or change careers or overhaul their whole lives. That however doesn’t mean you can’t bring a newness to your day-to-day.

The Benefits of Changing Your Life—Even in Small Ways

Keep in mind even small adjustments can add up to big results, as defined by The Butterfly Effect: barely perceptible changes can have an impact on a complex system. (Switch the place where you buy your morning coffee or wear an accessory out of your current wardrobe’s comfort zone.)

Remember too, the change that will do you good doesn’t necessarily mean cutting people off completely. Samantha sent flowers when Big passed away, and also texted Carrie.

Now, the brouhaha that has fans beside themselves is an anticipated Sam/Carrie phone call in season 2’s finale, which seems in character for someone who wants to keep in touch without having a Michael Corleone “Every time I try to get out they pull me back in” moment.

There are rumors that Kim Cattrall will return for the yet-to-be-announced third season.

(The actual reason for the phone-it-in scenario is a feud between Cattrall and SJP that dates back to the original series.)

There are, however, rumors that Samantha’s cameo will be a cliffhanger and that the actress, who has a new series called Glamourous on Netflix, will return for the yet-to-be-announced third season to round out the foursome once again.

Apologies to the nostalgic among us who want to see the group reunited, but I hope it’s not true. Once someone (Samantha as well as Cattrall) has had the courage to start life anew, you want to see them continue to move forward rather than go backward where they can fall into old habits…just like that.

Read More: Sex and the City’s Candace Bushnell Talks Midlife Sex, Epstein, and Owning Her Future

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Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of several novels, most recently The Last Single Woman in New York City (Heliotrope Books).