There comes a time in life when the quiet pull of your inner truth becomes louder than the expectations of the world. For me, that time came gradually—like the soft unfolding of dawn—until I could no longer ignore the aching difference between the life I was told to want and the life I was truly meant to live.

As a woman over thirty-two, especially within an Asian cultural context, I’m well aware of how “late” I appear by society’s standards. Many women my age already have husbands, children, and carefully built lives that check all the boxes. I’ve felt the weight of those comparisons—the glances, the questions, the subtle assumptions. I know my family sometimes worries, maybe even wonders if I’m too stubborn, too complicated, too different.

And there was a time I tried to be normal. I tried to meet men, to fall in love in the way that seemed acceptable and expected. Dating apps. Family introductions. Pleasant conversations over coffee. But every time I returned to myself—away from the noise, away from the performance—I knew the truth.

Love is Sacred, Not a Checklist

I’ve always known that love, for me, is something sacred. It isn’t casual. It isn’t transactional. It isn’t a checkbox on a life resume. I once thought I could love halfway—just enough to be safe, to avoid getting hurt. I convinced myself that if I didn’t give too much, I wouldn’t lose too much. But even back then, I knew that wasn’t truly possible. Because someone like me—who feels deeply, who lives intuitively, who listens to the unspoken—can only love with my whole heart or not at all.

In today’s world, love often moves quickly. Meet, match, date, decide. Many people fall into relationships that seem “good enough,” and maybe that’s all they want. But I’ve never been able to do that. I can sense connection—or the lack of it—almost instantly. It’s not about perfection or a checklist. It’s about energy. Resonance. A sense of soul recognition.

I’ve tried. I’ve gone on dates. I’ve smiled, listened, opened up—only to feel emptier afterward, knowing that the version of me they saw was only a mask. Not out of dishonesty, but because there was no space between us for who I truly am to unfold.

Choosing Inner Alignment Over Outer Approval

When I began my journey of transformation—of returning to my inner self, my soul, my higher purpose—I let go of the need to be “normal.” I stopped trying to follow a script that was never mine. I stopped chasing relationships that looked good on the outside but left me feeling unseen and unknown.

Still, I hold on to one quiet, persistent hope: that the universe is weaving something sacred for me in its own time. That somewhere out there, there is someone with the patience and depth to uncover a soul like mine—someone who sees the beauty in my contradictions, who isn’t afraid of how deeply I feel or how much I dream. Someone who might also be reading philosophy at midnight, wondering where their soul companion is.

Call it a hopeless romantic dream. Call it faith. But I believe that if we live in alignment with who we truly are, the universe meets us with grace. I believe in the kind of love that uplifts, challenges, and expands—not the kind that simply fits into a timeline.

Letting Intuition and Compassion Lead the Way

As I learn to live beyond conformity, I find myself making every decision—especially in love and relationships—through intuition, not obligation. My path is slower, softer, more inward. And that’s okay. I’ve learned that we don’t have to rush, settle, or shrink ourselves just to feel included. We don’t need to perform the version of a woman that society deems acceptable.

Instead, I choose to wait with an open heart. To believe that being true to myself will attract a love that is equally true. And in the meantime, I pour that love into myself—with tenderness, with forgiveness, with the compassion I’ve so often given others but rarely offered inward.

Reclaiming Worth, One Quiet Act at a Time

In this season of my life, I no longer see being different as something to overcome—I see it as a gift to embrace. I know I may never fit perfectly into traditional molds of career, marriage, or family. And that’s not because I’m lost, but because I’m listening—to the wisdom within, to the whispers of the universe, to the longing of my soul.

I want a life rich in meaning, not in performance. I want love that feels like home—not a house we built because we were running out of time. And above all, I want to live in a way that honors my truth, and gently inspires others to do the same.

With hope and love,

Seraphine Duong

Maybe I won’t ever be the woman who followed the traditional path. But I will be the woman who chose love—real, deep, intuitive love—over settling. The woman who allowed her life to unfold on her own terms. The woman who planted small seeds of compassion and hope in others, simply by being herself.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the most beautiful kind of legacy there is.