“Crushes offer a singular power to make concessions to the scary idea that things change,” Reid writes, “and that’s what makes the unrequitedness worth the rush. In the end, all I want is the practice of crushing itself.”

This is why I will always die on the hill of defending yearning, even in its clumsy, excessive, or misdirected forms. To want is to be porous to the world and to ache is to admit that life still has its hooks in you. Desire embarrasses us sometimes, God yes, but it also animates us, cracks us open and remakes us.

1. THE MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT DESIRE IS NOT THE SUCCESSFUL FULFILLMENT OF IT. ACTUALLY, IT IS THE MOMENTUM AND DIRECTION IT TAKES YOU ON, AND HOW FORWARD MOVEMENT ALCHEMIZES EVERY MOLECULE OF YOUR BEING INTO A MORE ALIVE VERSION OF YOURSELF AS YOU STEP FORWARD AWAY FROM FAMILIARITY AND TOWARDS THE UNKNOWN.

2. AND EVEN THE HEARTBREAK OF THWARTED

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