It's Single's Day--ahem, Valentine's Day--once again. And once more I find myself in a predicament.

I haven't updated in a while because I wanted to write a V-Day special, and now I'm in the writing process. Give me until tomorrow afternoon-ish. I promise I'll get there soon!

Now, since I am a full supporter of celebrating single life and our wonderful attributes as non-shackled people, I wanna hear some funny stories about being single...or just how you feel about it in general. 

Here's my story!

I'm one of those people who kinda actively searches for a relationship--I'll admit it. I really want that feeling of fulfillment that having someone to love and cuddle with gives. However, like some of you may have read, I recently went through a pretty bad breakup phase, and I guess I learned some things from that.

Firstly, the idea of The One is a commercialized idea sold to people that fulfills their hopes and dreams. All the movies you've seen--The Notebook, Casablanca, even The Fault In Our Stars (yes, this one)--are about The One, the person you're attached to by fate and will end up with, even if they happen to leave this universe early. You are bound to them. It's an idea that has sent so many wonderful people to a dark place, where they build up hope about someone being the perfect being for them and lose it all in an instant, leaving them with dispair and cynicism. And it's sad. Even though I write about matches in my story, I also (am trying to) make it clear that you don't need that other puzzle piece, the one that fits perfectly. It might not even exist, so there isn't a point in sifting through the whole box to find two and smash them together

Number dós. If I could go back and tell the younger me--or even just the one from a year ago--a few things I've learned, one of them would be that listening to sad songs on repeat isn't going to make that perfect person appear. If you want to find that true love, you're going to have to work for it. Don't complain about being forever alone while you sit on the couch with a tub of ice cream and chips, reading romance novels. Nah. That's dumb. Of course, don't stalk and hunt everything that moves within a twelve-mile radius, but yes, it's okay to socialize more, put on a little makeup every now and then, spoil yourself a bit. It's like advertising; you need to put yourself out there if you want someone to pick you out.

Three! On that note, don't completely change yourself to suit someone else's tastes, because it's exhausting, fruitless, and messed up. Because if you're an orange disguising yourself as an apple, people are going to like you as an apple, not the orange you really are. And if you end up with someone who doesn't actually like you for you, how long are you going to put up the façade? More importantly, if you like mayo and the other person doesn't, how the hell are you gonna go the rest of your life not eating mayo? I like mayo.

Lastly, before you even start the search for an S.O., you need to learn how to love yourself. And the reasoning can be summed up in one question: who is the only person you'll be with 24/7? Yourself. And it's in your best interest to fall in love with yourself, so that when you're alone, you're in good company.

And that's it! I know it's long, and kinda lecture-y, and it probably set me back several hours on my story, but I want to know that I made a difference of some sort. Tell me how you feel, what you think, if you dis/agree, what your favorite food is, I don't care. Anything. Because can I tell you a secret? I love all of you, people who read my stuff and have subscribed to me and help me pursue something that I so enjoy. And I would love to hear your voices.

Happy Single's Day!