If you only give yourself kindness when you’ve done everything right, are you really giving yourself kindness? Sometimes it’s easier to look in the mirror and ignore the parts you don’t like. But the parts of your identities that are most difficult for you are the parts that need your love most.

If you want to be dating with purpose, you have to learn to initiate. Whether you’re initiating the second date, initiating sexual intimacy, or initiating a conversation about building conflict, initiation is the key to keeping your relationship healthy. Being able to initiate something between you and your partner(s) gives you power in your relationship, and when all partners have access to that power, we get these beautiful, balanced, and fulfilling relationships.

Dating can be hard. It’s exhausting building up all the energy to get all cute, meet someone new, and put yourself out there, only to find yourself on the fifth first date of the month. If you’re stuck in a dating rut, you might be wondering: am I the problem?

Surely you know communication isn’t a one way street, but what if you aren’t the best communicator? Maybe you like to have time to think before you speak, or maybe you aren’t so great at putting your feelings into words. Every person has their own communication preferences and limitations — which means each person also has their own challenges to becoming a top tier communicator.

The Sex Talk is widely understood to be one of the most uncomfortable moments of a young person’s life, but it’s also one of the most foundational moments – establishing a series of expectations for one’s sexual identity for the rest of their life.

Whether we’re romanticizing jealousy or framing an abusive ex as a right of passage, we’ve all internalized some idea of unhealthy relationships as normal. Knowing the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships can help you have the relationships you want, without wasting time on the relationships you don’t.