Everyone craves connection.
To feel seen.
To feel loved in some way.
Behind it all is a simple desire —
a foster child hoping for a family,
a quiet student wishing for a friend,
a parent longing for someone to understand them.
For me, it has always been love.
The kind that feels like home.
The kind you can build a life around.
Back then, whenever there was a wedding or a family moment,
or even the smallest glimpse of love in the world,
the ache would rise up inside me,
as if I were falling behind what truly mattered.
But now something has shifted.
The desire is still here,
yet I’m no longer inside it.
Instead, I see it standing in front of me, softer,
like a dream I can admire
without drowning in.
If it comes, I’ll welcome it.
If it doesn’t, I’ll still be okay.
So maybe that’s the quiet difference.
A desire can remain just as strong
and yet feel lighter,
especially once you step outside of it.
And maybe that’s the same truth I found in We Passed It —
that whether it’s pain or desire,
it doesn’t always disappear.
It changes
once the first wave has already passed.