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How to Love like a Poet: 10 Essentials to making a Relationship Work
There I was, scrolling through Facebook, when a new friend suggestion popped up on my phone’s screen.
A young Filipina woman, with the cutest dimples I had ever seen and eyes that mesmerized me.
Her name was Jesa.
She was beautiful and mysterious. So, I poked around Jesa’s profile and checked out her recent posts, photos, and where she lived. To my dismay, she was on the other side of the world — over 7,000 miles away.
But I didn’t let the apparent distance stop me. I quickly sent her a friend request and waited to see if she would accept. Little did I know back then, my life was about to change.
I’m glad I didn’t let the distance stop me, because a day later I finally received the notification I had been waiting for — she accepted my invite to connect.
The rest is history now.
We’ve been dating for over half a year, the entire time in a long-distance relationship. Which hasn’t always been easy. You know, with the 15-hour difference in time zones, not speaking the same native language, and coming from distinct cultures. Luckily for me, Jesa is fluent in English, speaking it as well or even better than most native English speakers.
From dating Jesa, I’ve learned a lot about what works and doesn’t work in a long-distance relationship. Most of what I’ve experienced can apply to non-long-distance relationships too.
I’d like to share what has worked for me.
From a poet who writes poems about love and romance, I’d like to share what has worked for me. Pick from these ideas as you like, incorporating them all or just a few, and watch them cast a magical, almost hypnotizing spell over your lover.
Ten essentials to making a relationship work:
1. Learn the ancient art of writing love letters
The date is December 16, 2019. It’s winter in the United States, and I mail my first love letter to Jesa. It arrives in the Philippines almost a month later, in January 2020. To give you a taste of…