Relationship Stuff
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Fear is the New F-Bomb
4 min read
“The thought of being in a serious relationship scares me.” I was told this by someone I had just recently met and started hanging out with. Someone I like. Someone I enjoy spending time with. And based on his words and actions, I’m fairly certain he felt the same way. The connection was real enough
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I spent two weeks in Arusha, Tanzania working with Zoe Empowers, and I came home fundamentally changed. Not in the Instagram-caption kind of way.In the everything I thought I understood feels incomplete now kind of way. Zoe Empowers works with underprivileged youth—young people who, by most Western standards, have very little. Limited resources. Limited safety
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Dating With Intention in a Swipe-Happy World
4 min read
I’ve been dating again. Like, actually dating—putting myself out there, meeting men for coffee or drinks or trail walks, having those first-date conversations where you learn what someone does for work, whether they have kids, what they’re into outside of Netflix binges. It’s been… interesting. Hopeful at times, frustrating at others. And one theme keeps
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I’ve been thinking a lot about that weird, tender space you end up in when you genuinely care about someone, but you know the two of you are standing in completely different chapters of life. Not because either of you did anything wrong—just because the math of your realities doesn’t line up. For me, it
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Let’s just get this out of the way: dating apps aren’t the enemy. In theory, they’re genius — a digital meet-cute for busy adults who don’t have the luxury of bumping into a charming stranger at the grocery store. But somewhere between the swipe-right dopamine rush and the post-midnight “wyd” messages, the entire concept lost
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For most of my life, I’ve worn independence like armor — and, honestly, it’s served me well. I’m capable, resourceful, and comfortable standing on my own two feet. I don’t crumble when life gets hard. I handle things. But over time, I started to notice something about my so-called “independence.” It wasn’t always empowerment —
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Dating is complicated. Dating when you don’t have kids but the person you’re seeing does? Extra complicated. I learned this the hard way recently when someone I had been getting to know sent me a message that basically said: “I was feeling a bit like you wanted me to respond to plan stuff while my
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Making friends as an adult is weird. It’s kind of like dating, but with less wine and more awkward small talk about hobbies. I’ve been making a real effort to put myself out there lately—joining group events, walking into rooms full of strangers, and basically coaching myself with, “Okay Marie, you’re here to find your
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Ghosted: When Casper Isn’t Cute Anymore
4 min read
Ah, ghosting. Modern dating’s version of ripping off a Band-Aid… except instead of ripping it off, they just disappear into the abyss like a magician’s cheap trick. Poof. Gone. Here’s my story: I went on two fun dates with someone. There was laughing, there was chemistry, there was even talk of a third date. Then?
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Dating in your 40s can feel a little like shopping online. You scroll through a sea of options, trying to figure out what’s real, what’s misrepresented, and what might actually fit you. Except instead of free returns, you’re investing your time, energy, and emotions, and sorting through men who “swear they’re six feet tall” and