A Fresh Outlook

Since not long ago I ended a long, exhausting relationship, I feel especially wise right now. I feel right in choosing to end the relationship, and because it's been long enough to clear my mind and reflect on the situation, but not long enough to start seeing someone new, I feel like I am in a good place to assess what does it for me, and what doesn't. There's no reason I shouldn't make something positive come from a negative experience. Through this experience I have learned a ton about myself and grown tremendously. So much of learning is recalling and reinforcing what you already knew. I've always known that I love to engage, experience life, and try new things, but my last relationship didn't allow me to do any of those things, which is why it ultimately failed. I am now reminded of how much I love to see, go and do. Unfortunately, I do feel like I missed out on some things, and passed by some totally awesome people, but I am so aware of that now that I don't think I"ll ever see myself again in that position. To me, this is such a valuable realization.

Before, I had 2 requirements for a partner:

height (must be a tall guy)
standardized test scores

Am I a bitch, or what? What the fuck was I thinking? I know exactly what I was thinking actually, I had rationale for this. We were going to do the world a favor and advance the human race by only contributing tall, intelligent offspring to society. No wonder I landed myself in the situation I did - I was being a shallow bitch. I ended up dating someone with which I had very little in common. So I've reevaluated my "standards" (even though that's really not what they are).

Everyone has ideas of what they want. Nothing is concrete, they're just ideas. Don't judge me, either. I'm a single, and I'm not getting laid any time soon, so let me humor myself. Here are some things I think a guy could have/do/put up with that would be cool (girlfriends, I expect comments on this one):

love the outdoors-I love water sports, camping and hiking. I grew up on a farm and a lake.

intellectual - historians, classicists, writers, philosophers: the ability to not only entertain me with random facts, but to also impress my friends at galleries with obscure knowledge.

a traveller-more than half of my family lives in europe.

active and passionate in every way-involved, motivated, sexual, not necessarily athletic, but in control of their body, yup, active sums it up.

smokes weed-or at the very least tolerates my lifestyle choice.

Okay, so I think that will be my starting point. I'm sure I will think of more as I live and learn, but I'm so looking forward to taking a very casual approach to this situation, when the time is right. I would love to meet someone with shared interests, who just likes to get out and do things together - you would be surprised at how hard it's been to find someone who likes the hippie shit that I like. But things happen - or don't happen-for a reason.

Unlike some of my female peers, I'm not worried about my eggs getting old, or being alone for the rest of my life. If I've not found a fun guy who likes to read, raft and smoke pot by the time I'm 40, you bet your ass that there will be the most loved adopted Russian child in the world that I will treat as my own. We will have lots of pets, and I will be completely content! Pressure-free, commitment-free, freestyle, free ballin', just as long as it's stress-free, I will still love my life.