Taking Stock

Over the past few sessions of my own therapy, I’ve often told A that my romantic angst “sucks because I’m so used to getting everything I want in every other area of my life.” An amazing group of close friends, an ambitious and meaningful career, a thriving relationship with myself – all of this contrasts with my d*ting life. It’s not that I’m unhappy without a man; I love coming home to an empty apartment, and I’ve told A that on the day-to-day, I often range from a 93% to 98% on the happiness scale.

This week, though, I’ve noticed myself gently pushing back on my cognition that “I’m so used to getting everything I want in every other area of life.”

Celebrating 21: A Princess, a Bad Bitch, and Feeling Greedy for Romance

I hate romance. I despise how society prioritizes romantic love above all else: how romance pervades almost every song on the radio, how we have a separate romantic “relationship” status on Facebook, how we glamorize marriage as the ultimate act of commitment, placing it far above friendship. A large part of my now-21-year-old self thinks romance just serves as a patriarchal ploy; another part of me feels repulsed by giving into a clear-cut social construction like romance.

But I want it.