What if sex isn’t the reward at the end of dating, but the fastest way to find out if there’s anything worth dating for? What if sex isn’t the prize at the end of dating, but the fastest way to find out if there’s anything worth dating for? I couldn’t help but wonder: are we all just ghost-hunting in the dark, spending months decoding chemistry when we could simply get close enough to find out?

Picture this: For years, people mocked you for the way you look, what you eat, the clothes you wear, and how you do your hair. You never understood why they did it; they simply did. But years later, those who once laughed at you are now going above and beyond to become just like you.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl. Although she ultimately became the villain, her character was often forced down a bad path due to the actions of others. After work, I began watching the show for comfort and, unfortunately, began resonating with her character. It seemed that Lilly Pulitzer was turning me into somewhat of an evil blonde witch, always on the lookout for danger.

I was talking to a friend of mine recently. He’s a swimmer, training intensely for the Olympics, and he also creates content on social media. In the middle of our conversation, he said something I couldn’t stop thinking about. The more people see him online, the harder it feels for him to truly be seen. At first, I thought, how does that even make sense? Isn’t being seen exactly what we are all trying to achieve? More followers, more views, more people knowing our names. So w

It’s 2010. He cycles to my house and bangs on my door. ‘Can you give Caitlin this?’

Must We Know Who We Are? People love to solve riddles. We love to uncover mysteries. It gives us a sense of accomplishment, even superiority. But we forget that our lives are not puzzles with only one answer. When we are young, it’s important that we remain curious about the world around us. But eventually, that curiosity can turn inward. We start trying to uncover everything possible about ourselves: who we are, where our lives are taking us, what is going to happen next. Wi

There is a particular kind of loneliness that comes with finally developing some self-respect. Your phone stops lighting up. Your weekends become suspiciously uneventful. The men who once occupied an embarrassing amount of your mental space disappear, and suddenly you're sitting at home on a Friday night wondering whether you've become boring.

I separated from my ex six years ago. My initial plan was to stay single for a year, do therapy and learn from my mistakes, but many years and dating attempts later, I’m still single. While my ex was emotionally available, it became apparent to me that I, just like many gay guys, was attracted to emotionally unavailable men.

This is a short story of immense pain that later on turns to realization.

A while ago, I found myself talking to a girl from my college who attends a bunch of classes with me. She’s beautiful, kind, funny, popular, extremely intelligent and gets amazing grades, but for some unknown reason, we’d never really talked much before then.

You might’ve noticed how seemingly everyone on the internet is wearing the same five or six trending items of clothing. Originality in day-to-day fashion is dying, and no one seems to be concerned about it. Fashion icons such as Kate Moss wore whatever aligned with their personal style (with a sprinkle of designer wear involved, of course). Today, the internet is littered with cheap alternatives and the promise that copying a celebrity’s style will somehow align you with thei

I discovered I was in a situationship approximately six months after I apparently entered one.

We arrived at Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles just in time for the day’s peak temperature. Marseille wasn’t an escape from the heatwave, but somehow heat makes more sense near water. One final climb up a never-ending staircase before we could jump into the Mediterranean. Packing light was a nice thought. Not a realistic one. Plage des Prophètes was our closest beach. An eclectic crowd. All ages. A DJ blasting 2000s Top 40. It’s Fête de la Musique here too. 5 PM and still hot

“Don’t call him right away, just wait till you are done and look bored doing it.” I’ve heard this voice, only to figure out minutes later that it’s mine.

There was a time when self-care meant doing less. Taking a bath, cancelling plans, going for a walk, getting an early night. Somehow, it became another area of our lives to optimise. Sleep has a score. Steps have a target. Stress has a graph. Food has macros, workouts have zones, and even rest can be measured according to how efficiently our bodies have recovered from the day before. Wellness, once imagined as an escape from productivity culture, has quietly adopted its langu