Advice
I think the worst dating advice in the world is "try not to get hurt." How will you ever really know if you don't put yourself in a position to be hurt? And is that advice really just a directive to engage in meaningless, emotionless hookups?

"Just try not to get hurt." This is what a friend essentially said to me tonight when I told her where I was and what I was doing.

Where am I and what am I doing?

Not in Boston, trying to figure out if it's worth getting hurt. I'm already a little hurt, but not so much hurt as disappointed. Try not to get hurt. I think that's what I've been doing for the last several years and that has gotten me nowhere. Nowhere but single. And single in a bad way. As in consciously saying no to boys who ask, and chasing boys who I know will say no. There are still instances when I said no, years ago, that I regret now. My life could be so different and adventurous. I could be an expat by now. It's ok that I'm not. I'm where I'm meant to be. But, it's easy to wonder "what if."