Chapter 7: Stories & Skyscrapers
In which I consult with a fictional Board of Directors, download Hinge, go on a date with a hot man, and finally answer the question I posed at the beginning of our tale.
“I used to feel such shame and embarrassment for how much I wanted my life to be like the stories I’ve loved my whole life. So much so that I tried to have smaller, more reasonable desires, and became the worst version of myself as a result—scared, depressed, anxious, hopeless. The best version of me has always been the one who’s audacious about what I want out of a relationship. And I’m done apologizing for my ambition. We don’t all have the same amount of ambition in every area of life, and that’s OK. Some of us are perfectly content with a small, modest townhouse. Comfortable, safe, not flashy, but warm and homey. But man, I’ve got skyscraper ambitions when it comes to love. And I’m not talking some ugly thing that doesn’t even win skyscraper of the year award in Architectural Digest. It’s gotta be beautiful and impressive and very much larger than life. I think I might have more ambition in love than just about anyone I know.”
