Want a Boyfriend or Girlfriend

Maybe everyone around you seems to be pairing up, and you've started to wonder if something is wrong with you. Maybe you've never been in a relationship, or you honestly don't know where you'd even meet someone. That mix of loneliness and impatience is real, and far more common than it feels. Zen offers a gentle way of looking at this. Much of the ache comes from living in an imagined future, one where you're still alone. Coming back to this moment, to the life you're actually living today, can quietly soften that weight. Zen also sees the meeting of two people as something that happens when many conditions come together, often in ways we can't plan or force. Loosening your grip a little isn't the same as giving up. It may simply leave more room for something unexpected to arrive. On this page, you'll find questions from people who share this same worry, along with HOTOKE AI's responses.