It’s been two and a half years since I thought about killing myself. That’s up there as one of my personal records I’m most proud of, next to that time I won my Kindergarten classes’ art fair.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today, had I not gone through years of battling depression and recovering from two eating disorders. It woke me up and now, I can’t go back to seeing the world from a sleeping state. …

I’m not one to give second chances. I’m one to give fifth, sixth, seventh, and twelfth chances. I’m scared of change, but even more so when it comes to my love life.

I attribute this to my anxious attachment style. Until recently, I’d see all the flaws in my relationships but overlook them, hoping the person would change. Apparently, being unhappy in a relationship was a better trade-off than venturing into singledom.

But what I did was put off the inevitable because eventually, those relationships ended even if it was well past their expiration date. Had you asked me in…

The New York Times once published an article explaining a new relationship trend: contracts. Essentially, couples create contracts between each other on how they want the relationship to exist.

And while I’m all for putting work into your relationship, something like a contract doesn’t exactly exude romance. I’d go as far as to say that someone who works a 9–5 would be wholly put off by the idea of signing — physically or verbally — yet another contract, especially in their relationship.

But that’s more a semantic issue. The practice of finding what works for your relationship, being on the…

We’ve all met a difficult person at one point in our lives. It could be that co-worker who makes working with them near-impossible. Or maybe it’s the friend who can’t make a plan to save their life.

Or, perhaps, you’re an un-realized difficult person. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.

Whatever your circumstance may be, difficult people are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. They make it harder for people to like them and, in turn, cause a whole lot of unnecessary trouble for their lives.

And while you may not be a straight-up difficult person, many of us have some…

One thing that’ll sabotage your first date right from the get-go is a lack of confidence. It can make you act like an entirely different person and far from your regular, happy self.

Yet a lot of people feel the first date jitters and worry what their date thinks of them. I’d venture to say it’s a completely natural response, especially when dating can feel like such a high-stakes venture.

Recalling some of my Bumble and Hinge dates is enough to make me cringe. …

Like many people, I found myself with a lot of free time in March 2020. My departure from a part-time nannying job just happened to occur at the same time Los Angeles went into lockdown.

I ventured into the world of full-time writing with the excitement of taking my career to the next level. But, while writing for Medium had been great thus far, getting into bigger publications felt like a goal that was miles away.

But fast-forward to less than a year later, and I achieved my goals and more. My words are in Cosmopolitan Magazine, the Washington Post…

The relationship I’m currently in had a rocky beginning. For starters: after our third date, I texted my boyfriend to let him know I thought we’d be better off as friends.

But we eventually gave things a second try. What I didn’t realize the first time we started dating, was that I was subconsciously trying to sabotage a relationship that would make me happy. Seem crazy? Well, it was.

If you ever sated someone great who you ended up pushing away when they got too close, you may be familiar with self-sabotage. …

A relationship is like paddling a canoe. If one person stops rowing, you’ll continue to spin in circles, going absolutely nowhere. Not to mention your arms will be exhausted at the end of the day.

That’s how a one-sided relationship feels. I was in one about three years ago. I’d be in the same room as my boyfriend, laying on the couch with him, but still be lonely. I felt distant and neglected by someone I cared most about.

My attempts to talk about my needs and connect deeper were met with either annoyance or inaction. …