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The Art of Compromise in a World of Me

by MONROKin RELATIONSHIPS

“I confronted my mother about this and essentially forced her to get back into bed with my dad and deal.”

I saw an advertisement for the “Sleep Number” mattress on television the other day, advertised as “the mattress for couples.” You can adjust each side of the mattress to meet each individual’s needs. Basically, it’s two separate beds.

My Mom and Dad and a Sleeping Bag

When I was a kid my mother had trouble sleeping due to my father’s asthmatic snoring. One day she decided to set up a sleeping bag for herself in her office. When I had friends come over they would pass by the office and ask “Who sleeps in there?” I was embarrassed to tell them that my parents slept in different rooms, so I would say my cat uses the sleeping bag. I confronted my mother about this and essentially forced her to get back into bed with my dad and deal. She did, and is still next to him now 35 years later.

YOU and Compromise

Couples that sleep together tend to communicate more easily and have even been found to experience better health. In modern society, are we so obsessed with individuality that we can no longer share a mattress with our partner? If we can’t share a mattress, what can we share? What happened to compromise?

Compromise is one of the most essential parts of a relationship; it’s one of the fundamental pillars. We are currently living in the world of the individual: “Be Independent! Just do YOU! YOU are perfect, just the way YOU are!” Wrong, wrong, WRONG! Everyone has things they can work on. Everyone can learn how to compromise; it is a positive skill to hone. If you are that obsessed with being independent, then maybe a relationship is not for you. Being in a relationship IS a compromise in and of itself, because you have to think of someone else every time you make a decision.

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How Do I Talk to a Girl in 2016: The Internet Edition

by Virginia Jonesin LOVE

This week, a girlfriend and I got a heartfelt, funny, sincere and personal message from the same guy, and we discovered it was the same message.

Sometimes my friends and readers ask me questions for Love.tv that they think I might have fun answering, or that, god forbid, they actually want my answers to, so many thanks to my anonymous friend Zeke Shandy for this excellent question:

“After ten years of internet dating, I’m still, I guess, awful at it.  How do I break the ice with a woman online?”

There are as many different approaches to this as there are women in the world, but I’d like to offer some advice based on my own internet dating experiences.  Not showing off, but I’ve been single a lot.  Lots and lots.

OKCupid released a study last year claiming it’s a numbers game, and the best bet for men is to send as many messages as possible, and that blasting “Hey, how are you?” to five hundred women will get more first responses than spending the same time to actually try to connect with fifty women.  I find this lazy and ineffectual: the message of a person who is putting forth the absolute minimum effort annoys me.  This also includes “Hey.”  “Howdy.”  “What’s up.”  “How’s your weekend.” This approach employs the math of internet dating: trying to attract as many potential mates as possible so that you can sort through them later, but I am a proponent of an old fashioned idea that you might like someone because you found their personality attractive, and you don’t wish to go on 500 dates with people who just ask how your weekend was.

I also don’t like when a message seems cut-and-pasted- although again, statistically, this is not supposed to matter.   This week, a girlfriend and I got a heartfelt, funny, sincere and personal message from the same guy, and we discovered it was the same message.  Guys, I know the internet makes it feel like there are infinite numbers of single women to talk to, but there aren’t, and we talk to each other.   She called him on it and he said I’m sorry, I have to send too many messages to women, I can’t write them all individually.  Well, perhaps our bots can date?

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Model Responds to Kendra Wilkinson’s Post-Baby Body

by RJ Newellin LOVE

…it’s fun to celebrate your sagging skin and be grateful to your body for creating life.

You may have seen Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett’s “brave” Mother’s Day post, in which she showed off her stomach after childbirth. The Instagram photo (which has since been removed from her account) has been shared on a lot of mothering websites, and for good reason. It’s inspiring to see a beautiful mother celebrating her body, especially when that body is so famous. I’m grateful for the positive impact Kendra’s photo had on social media, but it’s time to talk about the very real issues behind our response to it.

Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett proudly flaunts her post-baby body, via instagram.
Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett proudly flaunts her body, after having kids. She has been called “brave,” “risky,” and even “crazy” by the media for doing so.

Admitting that motherhood changes your body is not “crazy” or “risky.” It’s something to be proud of. It shouldn’t be seen as an act of ‘bravery’ for Kendra to be honest about her natural post-birth belly. That’s what Hollywood wants you to think – because “bravery” implies breaking the rules. In this instance, the “rule” is that women aren’t allowed to be anything other than ‘sexy’ to the men who own the media.

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Gwyneth Gets Sexy

by Julia Solomonin Sex

The internet blessed us this month when Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle site goop.com debuted their first issue on sex. The site usually focuses on organic recipes and beauty products, spritual advice as well as health and wellness. I was a little hesitant to take any of the advice offered in this issue seriously, but I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

The most informative piece was one titled “I Yam What I Eat: Is Lube Toxic?”  That’s right, have you ever thought about what ingredients are in the lube that you’re using? As a society, we’re getting very health conscious when it comes to ingredients in our skincare products. We should put the same thought, if not more, into the products we’re using…down there. Lubricants that contain certain chemicals, such as parabens, can possibly disrupt our estrogen levels. According to the article, “Exposure to parabens has been associated with cancer and reproductive health issues and hormone imbalances like fibroids, endometriosis, infertility, and PMS.” If that’s not enough to make you think twice before you slather mystery gel on your lady parts, I don’t know what else will. The solution? Look no further than your kitchen. Basically, if it’s safe to eat, it’s safe to play around in. That’s right, it’s time to get sexy with your olive oil, coconut oil and your almond oil. The site does warn readers that oil can compromise the effectiveness of latex, so you should avoid use when you or your partner is wearing a latex condom. Honestly, the smell of coconuts is enough to get me feeling sexy, so I’ll definitely keep this advice in my back pocket.

Next up, some intense and luxurious sex toy reccomendations. Goop wouldn’t be Goop without making you feel bad for not owning something that costs more than three hundred dollars. Want to orgasm and feel like a queen at the same time? No problem, this 24-kt gold plated dildo will only set you back FIFTEEN GRAND.

LELO_Insignia_INEZ_product-1_gold_2x_1

If I spend that much money on something, I can guarantee you it’s not gonna stay in a drawer in my nightstand. This is something to put on display for company. Sure, it might lead to an awkward conversation, but they’ll most likely be too distracted by how much money you seem to have. On a budget? Not to worry, this vibrating couples massager – also with gold – is just shy of four hundred bucks.

I’m not gonna lie, I had to wait until I had a coupon to my local Pleasure Chest before I could afford my first vibrator, so these are a little out of my price range. But, like anyone else, I enjoy browsing the web, looking at things I’ll never be able to afford. At this point, Gwyneth Paltrow has published cook books, created her own organic skincare line and even coined a new phrase (conscious uncoupling, anyone?) so I will listen to what she has to say. Who knows whats up her sleeve next, perhaps extending her skincare range to include organic, artisanal lube? Here’s hoping.

Movie Romance — Lessons I Have Learned About Love from Films

by Virginia Jonesin LOVE

So, you get to a point in life where you think, hey, I’ve been dating awhile and I just keep dating awful people who are bad for me, I wonder why? Then you start thinking about your favorite movies from childhood and the messages you’ve internalized!  It’s amazing what a little emotional distance can do!

Starting with:

Beauty and the Beast- a beautiful village girl enters a monster’s castle to plead with him to release her father, and submits to her own incarceration, putting up with his temper tantrums and violence as he tries to force his way into her room, and then breaks up his own furniture.  She eventually falls victim to Stockholm Syndrome and falls in love with her captor.   Once she proves her love is true, he is revealed to be a prince!  This teaches us that if you have patience and love a bad person enough, he will become a good person. This could also be why women still feel hopeful about corresponding with online dating profiles with no pictures.  Perhaps he’s a prince or a celebrity!  If he doesn’t have a picture up, the truth is that he’s either married, ugly, or both.  What are some lessons we can take from this?

  1. Don’t trust people who wear too much velvet.
  2. Don’t date guys who have kidnapped any member of your family. No, not even a cousin.
  3. Rich doesn’t mean nice. Some might argue that it never does.

Grease- Two young attractive people meet over Summer break, fall in love, and then when they get back to school they’re worried that if they date, their friends won’t think they’re cool anymore because she is a “soc” and he is a “greaser”.  They spend the WHOLE SCHOOL YEAR pining for each other, and at the end they put on different outfits in order to meet the expectations of the other person, and then they appear to die, as they get into a convertible and their car drives into the clouds.  Lessons:

  1. Date who you want.  It doesn’t matter if your friends don’t like their jacket.
  2. You don’t have to change to be loved.
  3. Don’t have unprotected sex with Kenickie, or anyone really.

Breakfast Club- Some really weird pairings here.  Athletic, motivated Emilio Estevez falls for emotional basketcase Ally Sheedy because she wears her Holly Hobby underwear on the outside and ties a sock in her hair.  She’s a compulsive thief and liar and he has daddy issues, and the greatest thing they have in common is their twin suicidal ideation.  Molly Ringwald’s character falls in love with Judd Nelson’s even though during the eight hours they’ve known each other, it’s clear that he’s an addict, he’s a pre-abuser (he’s been abused, he reacts with violence), he sexually assaults her under a library desk, and he’s a compulsive cheater (showing her photographs of women he doesn’t think are worth being faithful to).   At the end of the movie, Anthony Michael Hall is not partnered with anyone because he is a clean-cut nerd with the best prospects for college and a good life.  Lessons:

  1. Don’t respond to negging! Judd spends the whole movie either calling Molly a slut or shaming her for having rich parents or telling her she’s a jerk for putting her lipstick on without using her hands, and she just can’t keep from attacking him in a broom closet.
  1. If someone can’t get through an eight hour detention without getting high, maybe don’t date them. That’s someone who’s gonna drink the rubbing alcohol in your parent’s bathroom to get through Thanksgiving.

Some Kind Of Wonderful- In this film, Eric Stoltz plans a dream date for a woman he has barely spoken to and only loves for her appearance, and when at the end of the date, she turns down his gift of extremely expensive earrings, he feels that she is being a real a-hole.  In retrospect, if a man with whom you had exchanged few words offered you a gift he bought with his college fund, you’d also wonder what he thought he was giving to, or getting, from you.  It’s a super weird gift.

  1. If a guy has a best friend who’s a girl and they hang out all the time, that girl is already probably in love with him, even if she dresses like a demolition derby driver.
  2. If someone plans an elaborate first date to try to win your love, and isn’t happy just to meet and talk over coffee, it’s probably a desperate attempt to paper over their own insecurities and trap you into something!

Pretty Woman- ok, it’s a cute retelling of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady, in which a street prostitute becomes a trophy wife, which is the same thing but in longer pants.  She gets an emotionally distant workaholic with no family ties, and becomes a kept woman- that’ll be fun in marriage counseling!  “Hey, I think our power dynamic is screwed up.” “Why is that, I wonder?”

  1. When a man buys a woman, it’s like buying a car- he’ll trade her in eventually.

Just remember that romantic movies are a fun fantasy, but many of the relationships depicted in them are a real nightmare!

7 Steps for Loving Someone With a Mental Illness

by RJ Newellin LOVE

Are you constantly worried about your partner’s mental illness? Are you afraid that things will never get better?

The National Alliance on Mental Illness states that 1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental illness this year. 1 in 17 people continue to live with chronic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. The chances are pretty high that you will fall in love with someone who suffers from a mental illness or mood disorder. It’s also extremely likely that you’ll both find unexpected obstacles on the road to happy endings. No love story is complete without a few bumps in the road, but mental illnesses can throw a lot of unexpected hurdles into the mix.

That said, I’m here to deliver good news.

Your relationship is not doomed. The very fact that you’re reading this article is a sign that you care deeply about your partner, and that is immensely valuable. You are taking time to do your research. That’s important. The more you know about mental illness, the better off you’ll be in overcoming it together.

More good news:

If your partner suffers from a mood disorder or mental illness, this does not make them weak. Behind every “I’m fine” lives a special kind of strength that’s not common for the average person. That said, If your partner is not aware of their own mental illness, or you feel they are endangering you or themselves, stop reading and help them find professional help immediately. If your partner is emotionally, mentally or physically abusive toward you, get as far away as possible.

This article is not meant to diagnose or treat mental illness. It’s about loving someone in active recovery. I’m going to assume, for the sake of this article, that your partner loves you and wants to make you happy. Your partner wants to overcome their illness. And they’re trying.

I’m trying.

The morning after a difficult night, my brain sounds a little like this: I feel so ashamed of my [meltdown/episode/panic attack/etc]. I wish he didn’t have to see that. I want to be better. I want to make my partner as happy as he makes me. I would love to go the rest of my life without this happening again…but what if it does? What if I never get better?

And then my partner wakes up and says he loves me. And I find strength. My mind discards my toxic thoughts and decides: I will keep fighting – for both of us. Opening my heart to my partner and committing to making him happy was the biggest decision I ever made. I worried my issues would make me unlovable, that it would become too much for him. I still deal with those fears. But time and time again, my partner proves me wrong. He reminds me that he’s in this, with me.

Mental illness has not made us weaker than the average couple. I think it’s made us stronger.

Now, you may be wondering –If your partner struggles being happy, how can you be happy together? If your lover is afraid to leave the house, how will you go on adventures? If they suffer panic attacks when you feel everything is going well, what’s going to happen when life throws in new challenges? 

It’s a learning process. My partner didn’t always know how to cope, and in many ways we’re still learning. But in spite of the struggles we’ve faced, our relationship has been overwhelmingly happy.

Many people confuse need with neediness. Know the difference: If a person has an asthma attack, you give them an inhaler. If a person has a panic attack, the antidote is equally important. This may be my battle, but I’m not the only one fighting. And that has made all the difference.

As the partner of a person with a mental illness, you are also at war. Here are your weapons.

Step 1: Know your enemy.

Understand your partner’s illness – causes, symptoms, and recommended treatments. Most mental illnesses can be overcome. Your partner most likely isn’t “crazy” – they’re a regular person who needs help overcoming trauma or negative childhood programming. Understanding this can be the difference between alienating your partner and growing closer with them. If they go to therapy, show your support by encouraging them. Talk with them about what they’re going through. And if you both go to therapy, that’s even better. For your partner, knowing that you’ve got their back is a huge deal. And the more you know about the monster, the better equipped you’ll be to fight it. This means becoming familiar with your partners emotional triggers, coping strategies, and what they need in moments of crisis.

Step 2: Don’t leave your partner in the battlefield – but make some distance if you need to.

If you’ve graduated Step 1, you know what they’re dealing with. You understand the monumental effort it takes for them to cope with their pain, and you know that support from you is critical for their recovery. So if (or when) the battle gets too intense and you’re suddenly unable to cope, make it clear that you love them and that you’re not leaving. Then step away. Why? Read step 3.

Step 3: Take care of you.

To play on a team, all players need to develop their strength individually in order to work well as a unit. This is ultimately their battle. They know this. On airplanes, when the oxygen masks come down, you’re told to put yours on before helping anyone else. Here’s why: you can’t help anyone if you’re suffocating. Once you’re able to breathe again, you’re strong enough to assist your partner.

Step 4: Reassure them. A lot.

With anxiety and trauma-induced disorders especially, we worry. A lot. If you told your partner you loved them this morning, by the afternoon and they might be falling into a spiral of doubt. They may believe you when you say you love them, but certain mental illnesses can make it difficult to retain the feeling. It might feel ridiculous to reassure them so much, but it’s better to say ‘I love you’ too much than too little. Think of your relationship as an hourglass. Flip it over with reminders every once in a while, so the love keeps flowing.

Step 5: Don’t beat yourself up. It’s okay to give them space.

It’s important to separate yourself from their illness. If they’re unhappy because of you, you’ll know. But if they’re dealing with the symptoms of their mental illness, it’s not your job to feel responsible for it. I love my partner, but when I’m unhappy as a result of my illness, it actually makes it worse if he blames himself. Guilt and fear go hand in hand – one exacerbates the other. Your only job is to be supportive and understanding. Relationships are a two-way street, and you can’t do all the work, all the time. Just like drinkers at the pub like to say: know your limit, play within it. It’s not always your fault. Sometimes they need space to recover, just like you do. If you’re struggling with guilt, go back to Step 3 and repeat.

Step 6: Let your partner love you.

Your partner is not helpless. They can take care of you, too. Let them! Spend quality time together and see each other for what you are – two people in love. Mental illness is like having a physical ailment – if you spend every waking moment worrying about it, you miss out on life.

Step 7: L-I-V-E.

Mental illness thrives on fear. It eats fear for breakfast, it drinks fear at night. Lucky for us…Love is stronger than fear. In my favorite film, Harold and Maude, Maude says: “Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go!” All you can do is your best. Do that, and let love take care of the rest.

*Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness

Sharing Milk

by Amy Albertin RELATIONSHIPS

Breast milk is amazing, it’s full of antibodies, and helps babies develop, and there have even been studies recently that show breastmilk can help cure some kinds of cancer.

Recently on the website LittleThings an Australian mom named Meg Nagle posted a picture on Facebook of her breast feeding her nephew while her sister was away at work, and the baby was very hungry. Meg had the milk, and didn’t think twice about it. It should also be mentioned that Meg is a lactation consultant who happens to know a thing or two about the subject, and also got permission from her sister beforehand. Oddly (please note the sarcasm here) people lost their minds over it, and it caused a firestorm of Internet remarks, some that were supportive, and many others that were not.

So why do people have such strong opinions about this? Wet nursing as a concept has been around for hundreds of years, and women donating their milk to infants in orphanages, or simply to other mothers who for whatever reason can’t breast feed, or produce enough of their own milk. Breast milk is amazing, it’s full of antibodies, and helps babies develop, and there have even been studies recently that show breastmilk can help cure some kinds of cancer. So why does the idea of a woman who is not the baby’s mother breastfeeding them freak us out so much?

Maybe it’s because in America boobs are sacred, sexual, hidden images for the most part, and viewing them as a source of food for a newly born human isn’t sexy. Americans LOVE our sexy, but not if it’s served with a side of breast milk. A friend of mine just the other day asked me after I remarked on how sad my breasts will be after I’m done nursing my baby in a few months said, “well, yeah, but you don’t really care about that, right? I mean, their real purpose is to feed your child, and you did that!” She’s right, I did do that. I fed my daughter from my breasts just as I was supposed to. Good job boobs! But if I’m being honest with myself, I still don’t want my once perky, small nippled, perfectly sized C’s to look bad! My husband is a big fan of my boobs, and I worry he won’t be attracted to me after they stop producing milk and I wake up with what can only be described at “porn star D’s”. Will my breasts resemble a hastily discarded sock puppet, thrown to the side by a child who has no interest in playing with is anymore? Is that even a thing? Even the thought of that makes me have panic sweat. Oh great, so I’ll have pancake boobs on top of my flop sweat. Not sexy.

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A Consent Uprising and My Own Sexual Assault

by Carlyn Hudsonin Mind

I think about this word often, because I was raped when I was 15. In fact, that’s how I lost my virginity.

A friend of mine recently posted on his Facebook asking what he should teach his young daughter. Immediately, the word that popped into my head was, “consent.” I think about this word often, because I was raped when I was 15. In fact, that’s how I lost my virginity.

It’s not an accident that I’m writing this on the heels of the Stanford rape case. Like so many others, I’ve been incredibly moved by the sharing of the survivor’s letter, the condemnation of his father’s words “a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action,” and by other friends coming forward, waving their hands, and saying “hey, I’m one of those 1 in 5 women who’ve been sexually assaulted, and I don’t want to be silent anymore.” Neither do I.

Here’s my story.

I grew up in a small town in Texas, where our sex “education” was an abstinence-only course called “Your Gift.” We were taught that our virginities were the ultimate gift to our husbands, and if you’ve already given it away, no problem, just wrap it up again!

Two pregnant classmates sat in my row. That year, Texas had the second highest teen birth rate in the nation, and we had the on-campus daycare center to prove it. Point is, kids were having sex in my town, and a lot of it.

At the beginning of sophomore year, I had just turned 15 and was the lead in the school play, Beauty & the Beast. To be more specific, I was the understudy, but I was promoted when the original Belle got (you guessed it!) pregnant.

Every day after rehearsal I sat behind the theatre and watched the soccer guys leave practice before my parents picked me up. I had a massive crush on one of them, and sometimes he would smile at me and say “Hey Carolyn” and pronounce my name incorrectly. He was supposedly some kind of sock model, too, which is crazy that we even had those in Seguin, TX! But I believed it.

At this point, the only boy I’d kissed was the Beast in rehearsals, who was gay and always smelled like hot cheetos. I had braces, hadn’t started my period yet, and generally had a gangly, colt-like figure that didn’t exactly draw all the boys to the yard.

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5 Tips for Non-Violent Communication to Use in Any Relationship, Inspired by John Cena

by RJ Newellin RELATIONSHIPS

On July 4, John Cena reached the hearts of millions with a simple, yet powerful PSA called We Are America.

You can watch it here.

This video could not have come at a better time. Today, war is everywhere; racism is a deadly epidemic; homophobia is a danger…and the political climate is stormy, to say the least. Chances are, you will run into a great deal of heated conversations this week – both on social media and IRL.

“Non-Violent Communication” is a term you might hear thrown around in meditation classes or therapy sessions – but it’s much more than that. It’s a powerful tool that everyone can use.

  1. Consider the issue from all angles.

    In We Are America, Cena asks viewers to close their eyes and picture the “average” American. He doesn’t start out by telling us what we’re “supposed” to think; he simply asks for our point of view.

Aristotle once said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” You can listen to another person’s views without giving up your own. Keeping an open mind gives you a better chance of discovering what you have in common. This creates a foundation of trust.

Remember – the goal is ultimately for the other person to entertain your point of view, just as you’re entertaining theirs. If you offer yourself as an example of what peaceful communication looks like, they may be more likely to reciprocate.

  1. State your observations, facts first.

    After asking viewers to picture their “average” American, John Cena offers some rapid-fire facts about our country. “51 percent [of American citizens] are female,” he states. “So first off, the average American is a woman.” By offering hard data to support his position, Cena solidifies his perspective as true.

In personal conversations, using “I” statements and presenting undisputable facts are the most effective ways to communicate peacefully. For example: “I’ve noticed that you use a number of racial slurs from time to time,” is a lot less divisive than just saying “You’re a racist.”

Rather than labeling them outright (“racist”), present some facts and/or previous incidents (“racial slurs”) to support your position.

  1. Empathy is a superpower. Use it.

    By expressing your feelings about a certain subject, you’re initiating an emotional exchange. In the PSA, Cena argues against the wrong definition of “patriotism” that people use to justify hatred. But he doesn’t say “stop being bigots, America.” Instead, Cena offers empathy: if we really want to love our country (and he believes we do) then we ought to love the people in it – regardless of gender, orientation, religion or race.

“After all, what’s more American than freedom to celebrate the things that make us – us?”

Notice he said “us.” We all deserve acceptance; that’s the point.

To receive empathy, you must also give it. By saying something like, “I feel sad and scared that you would _____,” you’re being vulnerable. And that gives the other person space to lower their defenses and be vulnerable, too.

  1. Add value.

    In the video, John Cena gives us a choice to add value to our lives by contributing directly to the country we love. He effectively communicates that our point of view matters. And to be needed is to be important.

Instead of saying “you’re holding me back,” one might instead say “I need support from you in _____.” Articulating your needs in this way shows others that they can be a meaningful part of the solution.

When we explain our needs to others, we add value to their cooperation. And cooperation is the goal of non-violent communication.

  1. Don’t be afraid to make requests.

    For people planning to celebrate their patriotism with fireworks and flags, John Cena ends the PSA with a simple call to action (of sorts). “Remember that to love America means to love all Americans…because love has no labels.”

You can’t change a person’s mind; all you can do is offer them an alternative. This can be done with a final request: “Would you be willing to stop using words like ____?” “Would you like to talk to a professional?” or, “Would you be interested in hearing more about this next time we meet?” Questions like these leave the ball in their court. The rest is not in your control.

Nonviolence means knowing when to walk away.

At the end of the day, your opinions are yours. But facts belong to everybody, so here’s the most important one: Love is the single most powerful force on the planet. It’s available to all of us, free of charge. And the more you practice it, the stronger love gets. Nonviolent communication is one of the most effective ways to bring lasting change in a world that really needs it.

Self-Love 101, with Brie Larson

by RJ Newellin LOVE

I’ve struggled with a lot of self-doubt, this month. Like most young women, worrying about my appearance and self-worth takes up a great deal of my mental energy.

One night, (like any sad Millennial up past her bedtime) I found myself looking to Google for validation. I searched ‘self-love,’ hoping to find some permission, somewhere, to embrace it myself. And then, it happened. The miracle. I actually found what I was looking for.

Meet your new Patron Saint of Self-Love: Brie Larson.

Brie’s Instagram and Twitter accounts have become beautiful channels for her to celebrate self-love and practice compassion, one funny caption at a time.

Screen Shot 2016-07-13 at 1.25.01 PM
(Photo credit below)

Before now, I couldn’t imagine Brie Larson having bad days. I mean, she’s fabulously talented, beautiful, and successful. But even the most glamorous celebrities look bad from time to time, because they’re human – and a lot of them pay other people to make sure this doesn’t ruin their ‘public image.’ But Brie’s image, public or otherwise, is 100% herself.

I hate to say it… but in today’s Hollywood, loving yourself is a brave thing to do.

As women, famous or not, it can be hard to appreciate ourselves as we are. After all, we live in a society that profits from our self-doubt. We are taught to monitor our imperfections constantly and do our best to conform to whatever beauty ideal is hot at the moment. But perfection is a losing battle. Even supermodels needs stylists, makeup artists, personal trainers, and fashion designers who are paid to make them look flawless – and that’s before photo shop!

Nobody is perfect, not even those whose livelihoods rely on the illusion that they are.

SO, instead of obsessing over unreachable goals, let’s rebel and love ourselves. Instead of ogling somebody’s “cellulite” in a paparazzi photo, how about we gush over public figures that actually inspire us?

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Hands Free Dating: Thinking Outside the App

by Jennifer Ashley Greenein DATING ADVICE, LOVE

I’ve had the absolute joy of meeting some of the most fabulous people in my life through my volunteer experience.

A few days ago I was having lunch with a girlfriend and we were talking about the technologically driven world we live in today, and as a result, how difficult it can be to find love. I initiated the conversation by telling my friend about an ad I saw while leaving the gym introducing a new dating app that allows you to connect with someone after seeing that person in real life. At first glance, I thought it was an ad for a new movie as the concept in relation to the dating world made little, if any, sense to me. So, you’re saying I have to pull out my phone, download an app, create an account, log in and search other members’ profiles all to be able to say hi to someone who I just crossed paths with in real time? This sparked a much longer discussion as we finished our lunch and then moved on to coffee, while we brainstormed all of the other possibilities we have for meeting people “hands free”.

I’m thrilled to report that we came up with a list of ideas (admittedly, we did make the list on our smartphones) which outnumbered the present selection of dating apps available to us. Of the multitude of ideas we discussed, paramount to me is the notion of meeting someone while volunteering. I love to volunteer. I do it as often and as readily as I possibly can. If I could do it and get paid…oh wait. Seriously though, I’ve had the absolute joy of meeting some of the most fabulous people in my life through my volunteer experience. Years ago, I joined an organization in New York that is so large they are able to break down their projects into several different categories so each person can be matched with the volunteer opportunity that she/he is right for. So, if you’re artistically inclined, love animals, or have a niche for health and wellness, you can choose to donate your time appropriately, and you will meet many other like-minded individuals.

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Looking for Love on a Trail of Breadcrumbs

by Virginia Jonesin DATING ADVICE, LOVE

I had a really great first date with a curly-haired breadcrumber who kept in sporadic touch with me, which made me sad because I really had fun on our date and wanted to see him again.

There are lots of ways that technology has changed the way we interact with each other.   A few years ago, if you’d been dating someone and you didn’t want to anymore, you had to say “hey, thanks for dating me, but I don’t want to anymore.”  Now we ghost, fade, or breadcrumb our way out of hard situations.

Ghosting has been well documented: you’ve gone on a not-insignificant number of dates with someone, more than two or three, and then you Keyser Soze them like in Usual Suspects- you’re just in the wind.  No text, no call.  Everyone hates it, but everyone does it, because we feel that having been ghosted implicitly gives you permission to ghost, like being bitten by a werewolf makes you one yourself.

The first time I was ghosted, it really took me by surprise.  I assumed that the person I had been dating for nine months was in rehab or prison (either one would have been a pretty good idea), and when, after two weeks of silence, I saw him tagged in a photo of just hanging out in his favorite bar, I was pretty amazed.  I didn’t call it ghosting, I called it “being dumped by a sociopath”, which is in many ways more accurate.

Ghosting happens because it’s the easiest option, there’s no confrontation, and sometimes, ghosting happens because it never really closes the door- in the ghoster’s mind, they’ve never really broken it off with you, so there’s still a possibility of dating you in case what they’re pursuing also peters out, and also the thing after that, or if they someday reach the end of Tinder and it’s just a picture of a cat with a colander on its head.  Breadcrumbing is the same- they might not want to date you now, but they maybe want to later?  Or not?

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Why 50/50 Relationships Don’t Work

by Robin Tranin RELATIONSHIPS

The idea of an equal relationship is nice in theory, but it doesn’t work in reality.

The truth is, there’s no way of knowing how much someone loves you. You’ll never know for sure how somebody really feels about you. All relationships are inherently unequal, even in friendships. This would’ve bothered me years ago, but I learned awhile back that this was purely due to my pride and not because there was anything that was actually wrong with this concept.

For a long time, I was worried that I wasn’t pulling my weight in my relationship. Part of me still worries about that. I think about how much more money my girlfriend makes, how she has given me a home, and how she has stuck with me throughout my transition into a woman.

I think about how unfair it must be for her, how I haven’t done enough to make her happy.

But in doing so, I’ve done nothing except cause myself pain, and it also makes her unhappy to hear me being so cruel about myself. She tries to reassure me that I do pull my weight by cooking and cleaning, by taking care of her needs, and by being her emotional support. She says that when I downplay my contributions to our relationship, I’m “score-keeping,” which she very much dislikes.

There is an example of score-keeping in the movie The Joy Luck Club, which features a relationship between Harold and Lena, a couple who splits everything right down the middle. Harold is all about “fairness.” For instance, he labels everything in the refrigerator as either his or hers, and he keeps track of how much everything costs. This causes a get strain in their relationship, and they end up splitting apart because of this.

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How I Knew I Found Someone Special

by Robin Tranin LOVE

All I cared about is that she made me happy whenever I was around her, and she helps me help myself feel worthy of that love every day.

I’ve always been a bratty, picky introvert, lamenting about my loneliness while putting myself through self-imposed solitude. I can’t quite explain why. I love being alone yet I hate being lonely. It’s this inexplicable balance that I’ve lived with for the vast majority of my life.

I have a high capacity for love, yet a very low tolerance for stimulus. This means that while I appreciate every moment I get to spend with my friends and family, I was never able to see any one person more than twice a week before I started feeling overwhelmed. I would have to take regular breaks from seeing people.

That was, until I met my current girlfriend.

In 2012, I was going through a journey of self-discovery. That was the year I realized that I had never really been happy. I would smile and laugh occasionally, but the feeling of pure joy eluded me. I started figuring out how to love myself using cognitive behavioral therapy and meditation.

It was around this time that I met Cate. When I first got to know her, I didn’t know that she would be the person I’d want to spend my life with. We always got along made each other laugh, but I was still in the process of finding myself. I still held onto my rule of only seeing my friends twice a week. I kept a wall up, perhaps to protect myself from pain.

But one fateful day, after many months of cognitive therapy, I worked up the nerve to take a risk. For a long time, I had “jokingly” asked her on dates, which always gave her the opportunity to laugh off the situation. But not on this day.

I wanted to drop any pretense that I was joking and told her that I was serious, letting her know that I wanted to get to know her better. We finally set up our first date.

I wasn’t sure what I expected when we went out for the first time. All I wanted to do was have a good time, get to know someone new. I always enjoyed her company and our Facebook chats, and she was the smartest person I knew.

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How to Win at Online Dating

by Carlyn Hudsonin DATING ADVICE, LOVE

Think back to your last three boyfriends. Are they all over 6 feet tall? Make six figures?

Have you ever watched a straight guy on Tinder? Seriously, it’s amazing. If they find a woman even the slightest bit attractive, they swipe right. I’m talkin’, “I wouldn’t say I’m into the Juggalo scene, but, her lips are kinda hot” swipe right kind of action. I don’t want to say their standards are low, but they are more…realistic.

And here’s the kicker. Those guys are doing it right.

Think back to your last three boyfriends. Are they all over 6 feet tall? Make six figures? Smoke less than a gram of weed a week?

My last serious boyfriend was shorter than me, the one before that had a child, and the one before that one was a virgin. I realize most people don’t put their number of sexual partners on their online dating profiles (the answer is 20, always 20), but the point is, NONE of these guys would have passed my self-imposed dating filters, because they are bullshit. I consider each of those relationships successful in their own right, but had I come across any of them online, they wouldn’t have made it past the damn matching stage.

Before you start whining, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have preferences. That would be insane. If you’re religious and need someone who’s also religious, or if you’re creative and know you’ll only jive with someone who gets that, fine, those are reasonable requirements. But dating online shouldn’t be a free pass to be a jerk and impose unreasonable expectations on other people.

For example, I know for a fact that men under 6 feet tall give the best head. Take a poll between your friends and you will see that this is an undeniable truth. And in general, the most “successful” guys I’ve dated turned out to be least generous. Again, I’m not advocating Bumble-ing with 22 year olds living off their parent’s credit cards, but instead of asking yourself, “When does he make VP at the company?” Ask, “Does he pay his rent? Have some sort of savings account? Have goals and aspirations?” Great. He gets a pass.

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