once we live:

Dear Lover,

Why are we so afraid to talk to the gorgeous stranger when we have nothing to lose?

Why is the person we like usually the last person we say hi to in a room?

Why do we use people we don’t like to make the ones we do jealous?

Why do we purposely leave a location alone, wishing the person we like will follow us? Why can’t we just grab their hand and run away together?

Why do we pretend we have somewhere to go and something to do when we’re in the middle of a meaningful interaction? Why do we avoid potential awkward silences when we actually would give anything to spend a whole night with the person?

Why do we make excuses to visit someone or invite them over when we really just want another glimpse of their beautiful face?

Why do we purposely talk about things that lead to hugs when we really just want to say that we want the other person in our arms?

Why do we wait forever online just to see if the person we like will start a conversation with us? Why do we wait for reciprocation when we have a screaming desire to say hello?

Why do we show off to the person we like when we should be letting our guards down to let them into our lives?

Why do we use reasoning to think a future relationship through so “our friendship won’t be ruined” when love is not a thing of logic but a thing of emotion?

Why do so few people’s “looking for” section of their Facebook profile mention a relationship when actually nearly all of us are waiting for someone to sweep us off our feet?

Why are we so intrigued by the phrase “We always want what we can’t have” that sometimes–whether consciously or not–we control our situations to make it relevant to our lives when we say no to someone we like so much? Why don’t we want what we could get?

Why do we turn someone down a few times so we seem more socially valued–only to accidentally let them slip away?

Why do we put up a wall to protect ourselves from the person who might protect us best?

Why are we all so proud that we won’t admit to liking someone?

Why are we all so prejudiced that we pick out reasons why we should wait for “another one”?

Why are we all so jealous of relationships when we never cherish our own chances?

Why are we all so afraid of showing positive emotions?

Why are we all so passionate about being independent and free but not about being interdependent and connected?

Why can’t we all embrace love?

Love Always,
Nathan

Dear Skeptic,

there’s enough help in the world
but not enough people asking for it.

there’s enough friendliness in the world,
but not enough people admitting they need it.

and there’s enough love in the world,
but not enough people open to it.

Love Always,
Nathan

Dear World,

After watching the 113th Boston Marathon, I wrote this piece:

an ethiopian finished first, a kenyan finished second, an american finished third. an american finished ahead of a kenyan, a kenyan finished ahead of an ethiopian. a brazilian carried his flag, a korean wore hers as a pin, a south african wore his national colors. a brit sang her country’s anthem, a russian thought it was beautiful. an irish slowed down to take in the music, a chinese sped up to do the same. another brit fell down and couldn’t. an italian cheered him on, an israeli helped him up. a mexican dropped her flag, an iranian avoided stepping on it, a swede picked it up. and a costa rican smiled.

wishful thinking?

why are we all a race?
why do we all race?
and why are they the same word anyway?

Love Always,
Nathan

Dear Lover,

I have never been so bothered by a game show question in my life.

In a Celebrity Family Feud episode, one of the questions was “Name something a woman might do if she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her.”

The survey revealed:

1. dump him (37 people said this)
2. hurt/kill him (30)
3. cheat on him (7)
4. hit the floozie (6)
5. damage car/tires (6)
6. destroy clothes (5)

I can sorta see how emotions can get the best of someone and cause a woman to make a decision to dump him on the spot. But maybe it’s because I’m too much of a pacifist, but “hurt/KILL” him?? As the second most common answer?!? And what about “damage car/tires” or “destory clothes”? Will those do ANYTHING? And then.. “cheat on him”?? Would eye for an eye really work for this??

I really wished the top answers were:

6. hug him
5. forgive him
4. reflect on it / learn from it
3. talk to him / vent to him
2. listen to him
1. understand him

Do these strategies not exist in this world of love? Have we really been so sucked into the soap opera drama and reality show versions of romance that we’ve been programmed to throw a fit every time we encounter an obstacle in our relationships? Is anger really the norm? the expected reaction? the preferred reaction?

In the times when we need them most, where have communication and understanding disappeared to?

Love Always,
Nathan