Learning to Love Beyond Romance


Love. It’s a feeling that can’t quite be captured in words, no matter how much we try. It’s the flutter in your chest when you see them standing at your door, the excitement in your stomach when you hear from them, the way your steps feel lighter beside them, and the warmth that spreads through you when your body is hugging up to each other. To love, to be loved, to be in love—it’s all a messy, beautiful mix of emotions and connection. But this year, I’ve learned something important: romantic love isn’t the only love that matters.

Love comes in many forms, and in each form, it brings its own kind of joy. Though, my relationship didn’t work out this year, I knew, deep down, that it wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes, the heart just refuses to listen to what the mind knows to be true. We get caught up in the pressure—the pressure to lower our standards, to settle for someone who doesn’t match our frequency, because maybe we think we’re too much, too strong, too independent for love. But that’s all lies we tell ourselves.

Happiness doesn’t come from waiting for love to appear in the form we expect. It comes from loving ourselves, from the experiences we gather, from the connections that go beyond romance. It’s found in friendships, in those who love us in ways that go deeper than any relationship ever could. Happiness is discovering who we are, what we need, and what fills us up—saying yes to adventure, to new experiences, to the moments that remind us we are enough.

Yes! I’m still a believer in love. In the kind of love that will find me when the time is right. But this year, I’ve learned that romantic love is a fleeting thing. I will fall, I will rise. I will give my heart away, and I will take it back. And when the time comes, I will find someone who matches my energy, my values, and together, we’ll light up each other’s worlds for the rest of our lives.