A letter to the person who is terrified of giving up being single: the freedom you're protecting is real, and the loneliness you're tolerating is also real, and the courage isn't in choosing one over the other, it's in admitting you've been holding both this entire time - Silicon Canals

"The conventional wisdom about long-term singleness offers you two narratives and no middle ground. Either something is wrong with you, or you've heroically transcended the need for partnership."

"The whole truth is messier: you've been holding a genuine freedom in one hand and a genuine loneliness in the other, and the weight of pretending one hand is empty is what's actually exhausting you."

"Choosing to step away from that pattern was one of the most empowering decisions I've ever made. And here's what nobody warns you about empowering decisions: they work."

"You tell people about them. You build your sense of self around them. And slowly, without any single moment you can point to, the choice has become a defining aspect of your identity."

Long-term singleness often presents two conflicting narratives: being broken or enlightened. Many individuals experience genuine freedom alongside genuine loneliness, leading to exhaustion from pretending one feeling doesn't exist. Initially, choosing to be single can be empowering, helping individuals find happiness independently. However, over time, this choice can become a defining aspect of identity, complicating the emotional landscape. The struggle lies in reconciling the duality of freedom and loneliness, ultimately leading to the need to address and set down the weight of these conflicting feelings.

Read at Silicon Canals