Member-only story
Is Being Single the New Midlife Crisis?
Single by choice. Judged by default.
Recently, I ran into an old college friend. Back then, we shared bad decisions, tequila, and existential dread.
We hadn’t seen each other in over a decade, so I braced for the small talk. Instead, she hit me with:
“Are you finally married?”
I laughed because what else was I supposed to do? Should I tell her I go to bed praying some man will come along and choose me before I expire?
Or do I tell her the truth?
That I sleep just fine at night. That I love my life. And I didn’t forget to get married — I never treated it like a finish line.
She stared at me, waiting for an explanation as if my single status needed a tragic backstory. Because if you’re still single past a certain age, something must have happened to you like an epic heartbreak that left you cynical and incapable of love. Because surely, no sane person would be single on purpose.
It’s strange because I don’t feel like I’m in crisis. I feel comfortable. Yet, that awkward exchange planted a tiny, nagging question in my brain:
Am I happy, or have I got used to being alone?
