PeonyMagazine

  Here comes February. ’Tis the season of love again. Valentine’s Day, when I think of it, I see couples loving each other — honest, faithful, loyal, committed. Some think of it as a day measured by presents: a bouquet of flowers, a bundle of chocolates, small surprises wrapped in red and pink. It always seemed like love had a formula during this season. You give something tangible, and that becomes proof that you care. I have a friend who once received both a bouquet of flowers and a box full of chocolates on  Valentine’s Day . She told me she appreciated the gesture. She really did. But she never liked flowers; she was allergic to them. And chocolates? She couldn’t eat them because she has diabetes. We laughed about it when she told me. It sounded ironic to receive everything the world says you should want on Valentine’s Day and not be able to enjoy any of it. Behind those gestures, she didn’t tell her partner she didn’t like the gifts. She said she didn’t want to make him f...

  Love has always been a mystery, messy, unpredictable, sometimes cruel, and sometimes breathtakingly kind. In 2025, finding love looks different from how it used to. Instead of chance encounters at coffee shops or introductions through family friends, so many of us are meeting on screens first, with hope tucked between swipes and messages. Online dating isn’t just about convenience; it’s about our hearts adapting to a world where technology holds the doorway to connection. One may say that no matter how much technology changes the way we meet, the heart’s journey remains the same: healing, risking, opening, and finally finding. If you had told me a few years ago that I’d find love again, real, steady, heart-shaking love through a dating app, I would’ve laughed. Or maybe cried. After all, when my marriage ended in betrayal, I thought love was something I’d never risk again. My husband’s affair broke me in ways I didn’t think were repairable. Anxiety, panic attacks, depression, I li...

  Writing about this topic feels like stepping into the middle of a never-ending argument, like trying to answer whether the egg or the chicken came first. So let me start with a disclaimer: these thoughts are my own. They don’t come from a psychology book or some polished  TED Talk . They come from my life, from the  relationships  I’ve had, the  heartbreaks  I’ve lived through, and the questions I still don’t always know how to answer. I haven’t had a lot of relationships, not enough to call myself an expert, but enough to understand how complicated love can be, and how much more complicated it is when it ends. And maybe that’s why this question:  should you be friends with your ex?  doesn’t have one clear answer. It depends on the ending,  on the healing, and on you. If a relationship ended in betrayal, if someone cheated or broke your trust in ways you’re still unpacking; staying friends with that person isn’t just difficult. It can feel ...