The Valentine Bonus Series
Love, Cynicism & Still Hoping
A Valentine series for people who’ve loved hard, learned slowly, and still haven’t stopped paying attention. Six essays on love, cynicism, boundaries, and the quiet hope that refuses to stay quiet.
This series includes:
Six weekly Valentine essays (posted Wednesdays)
One Friday the 13th wrap-up on bad romantic decisions
A Valentine’s Day coda that admits hope hasn’t left
Each post stands alone — but together, they tell a bigger story.
Still Hopeful (Annoyingly)
In plain terms: hope doesn’t mean you forgot the past.
It means the past didn’t get the final word.
That surprised me.
Because if you’d asked me a few years ago, I would’ve sworn belief had been beaten out of me. That whatever softness I once had had been replaced with realism and low expectations and a well-organized emotional filing system labeled Don’t Do That Again.
Turns out… not entirely.
Here’s the part I don’t say out loud very often.
I’m careful because love is powerful.
Not because it’s weak. Not because it’s foolish. Because it changes things. It rearranges priorities. It softens defenses you worked hard to build. It makes you visible in ways that aren’t always comfortable.
Cynics don’t avoid love because we don’t believe in it.
We avoid it recklessly because we do.