Dear Piper,

Do I wait for love?

–Jazmyn

Dear Jazmyn,

Do you wait for shelter? Air? Water? No, Jazmyn. Why not? Because you need them. So why would you wait for love? Don’t wait for something so great; don’t wait for something you can create.

Cultivate love with your family, your friends, your hobbies, your pets (but, be careful here), your favorite dessert, the flowers you bought from the florist, your favorite skirt, your neighbors, your co-workers, your teachers and so on. The more love you create with the people and things around you, the more love will come your way. And, perhaps you’ll be more inclined to recognize a particular type of love you may have been thinking of when you wrote me; romantic love.

Do you wait for romantic love? In a way, yes; but I wouldn’t call it waiting. I think what you should do in the meantime, while romantic love is still a traveler on its way to your address, is figure out how to go about the business of loving yourself. That way, when the romantic love comes, it’ll be icing on the cake instead of the whole big-ass dessert you’ve been waiting for.

–Piper