Had a great afternoon today, but I'll rattle on about that tomorrow when I can be bothered with silly photos.

So whilst trying to rehydrate myself, I sat through what seemed like a "Sex and the City" marathon this evening on foxtel and I think I've finally realized why it's such a popular series. In one of the episodes, I think it's titled "They Shoot Single People, Don't They?" Carrie asked if people would rather settle and pretend than be alone -well something like that. The gist of it is, do people just settle relationship-wise because they're too scared to be alone? The bit that really drove the point home, it also made me laugh, was the bit where a couple were on a park bench and the guy "spoke" in sign language and then smiled, and the woman that was with him indicated agreement with her body language, then turned to the camera and said that she didn't actually understand sign language at all.

Do people really settle for what they think is safe- the ol' better the evil you know gig? Is it better to be with someone even if you know they're not what you really want because you don't want to be single? Does being single really mean you're in the "not good enough pile"? Why do some people struggle so badly to be in relationships?

I understand that being in a romantic relationship, among other positives, does offer that feeling of comfort in knowing that there's that other person that thinks and cares about you - hopefully as much as you do about them, but does not having that really make you worth less? I'm not advocating for either coupledom or singledom, but shouldn't you be able to be happy either way? Should there be the perpetual quest to be part of a couple?

It's all up in the air. One of my good friends somewhat recently broke up with her long-term boyfriend and she seems happy enough being single and literally playing the field. I mean she could really be out there desperately searching for her new significant other.. if she is she's disguising it like an evil genius! I know I've never gone looking for a romantic relationship, it's something I remember my Dad going on about: that the best romantic relationships come from friendship - you can't start something by telling it what it is just because you want it to be.

For whatever reason there's lots of societal pressure to be paired up. I mean I know one of the first questions I get when meeting up with an old friend that I haven't seen in a while is...wait for it... "So do you have a boyfriend?" It's up there with, "What do you do for work". I don't know if it's important to be part of a couple, but I've learnt enough to know that it's not a good thing if you can't let go when coupledom fails.

I'll finish it off with another of my Dad's gems of wisdom about relationships and life in general (well the gist of it anyway): There's no point holding on to something of no value, I'm richer without it wasting my time and energy. Also the things I call life and love will wound me and I will earn my scars; picking at the scabs before they heal will only make things worse.

All easier said than done, but with non-specific advice, my Dad's never been wrong.