{"id":1850,"date":"2026-04-01T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:21:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:21:58","slug":"love-looks-different-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850","title":{"rendered":"Love Looks Different Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Love Looks Different Now<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Day 83 – February 14, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is Valentine\u2019s Day. Which is funny because the internet always treats love like it\u2019s made of rose petals, expensive mistakes, and people pretending to enjoy predetermined menus in dim restaurants while secretly wondering if the other person\u2019s emotional bandwidth is permanently set to \u201cseen at 8:14 PM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But lately I\u2019ve been thinking about love differently. Not the glittery version. Not the version people market in red and pink with soft focus lighting and a suspicious amount of champagne. I mean the real thing. The one with muscle. The one with instincts. The one that doesn\u2019t just feel good. It protects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year ago I probably would have described love in softer language. Warmth. Intimacy. Romance. Connection. That beautiful dangerous little illusion that if someone reaches for you sweetly enough, the reaching itself must mean something good. Some of that is still true. But now I know something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love is also protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love is the person who doesn\u2019t vanish when life gets ugly and inconvenient. Love is the friend who sits quietly in a room with you when words are too expensive and your nervous system is one weird sound away from unionizing. Love is the person who hears your story and does not try to make it prettier, easier, or more comfortable for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That matters to me now in a way it didn\u2019t before. Because when someone hurts you deeply enough the definition of love gets edited. Not ruined. Sharpened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You stop being impressed by charm alone. You stop confusing attention with care. You stop mistaking chemistry for safety, which honestly, should be embroidered on a pillow and handed out to half the population before they\u2019re allowed to text anyone after 10 PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love, I\u2019m learning, is not just who desires you. It\u2019s who can hold you without trying to rewrite you. It\u2019s who can witness your truth without needing to dilute it into something easier to digest. It\u2019s who stands beside you when your life is complicated, when your grief is inconvenient, when your fear is unattractive, when your healing is messy and nonlinear and deeply uninterested in performing progress for public consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe most importantly, love is also the way you learn to protect yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That one took me longer. Because there is something very dangerous about being taught that love is mostly about giving. About softening. About understanding. About making room. About being open, warm, accommodating, forgiving, flexible, emotionally literate, spiritually moisturized, and somehow still hot while doing all of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhausting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I think love also looks like boundaries. It looks like refusing to let someone who harmed you define the shape of your future. It looks like choosing yourself in practical ways. It looks like rebuilding your relationship with your own mind, your own body, your own reflection, until you can stand there and say, No, actually. You do not get the final word here. I do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is love too. Maybe the fiercest kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind that says, I know what happened. I know what it cost. And I am still going to make a life worth inhabiting. That\u2019s not fragile. That\u2019s not delicate. That\u2019s not the kind of love that looks cute in public and disappears under pressure. That is fierce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger spent the day loving me in the most uncomplicated way possible. Total devotion and the firm belief that my whereabouts are both fascinating and his business. Honestly? Iconic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is something comforting about love when it has no agenda. No performance. No strategy. Just presence. And maybe that\u2019s what I\u2019m most interested in now. Not decorative love. Not plausible deniability in a nice coat. Not almost love, convenient love, or the kind that sounds good out loud but folds the second reality gets involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind that protects. The kind that remains. The kind that tells the truth. The kind that knows softness is beautiful but safety is sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaos in one hand. Grace in the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a deeper, sharper, much more dangerous understanding of what love really means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 83 – Today is Valentine\u2019s Day. Which feels like an interesting moment to think about love. Not the glittery version the internet sells. The real thing. Before the past year, I probably would have described love in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chaos-and-grace"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nLove Looks Different Now - Wild Poise<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A raw, reflective entry journal entry - honest thoughts on healing, resilience, uncertainty, and rebuilding life one day at a time.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love Looks Different Now - Wild Poise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A raw, reflective entry journal entry - honest thoughts on healing, resilience, uncertainty, and rebuilding life one day at a time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Poise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-01T00:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T19:21:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wildpoise\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wildpoise\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"wildpoise\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb5baee85acf6300e5069d7cbe0c46d3\"},\"headline\":\"Love Looks Different Now\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-01T00:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-13T19:21:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Chaos and Grace\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850\",\"name\":\"Love Looks Different Now - Wild Poise\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-01T00:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-13T19:21:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"A raw, reflective entry journal entry - honest thoughts on healing, resilience, uncertainty, and rebuilding life one day at a time.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?p=1850#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Love Looks Different Now\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Poise\",\"description\":\"Rooted. Radiant. Relentlessly Real.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wild Poise\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/cropped-ffytr.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/cropped-ffytr.png\",\"width\":464,\"height\":271,\"caption\":\"Wild Poise\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb5baee85acf6300e5069d7cbe0c46d3\",\"name\":\"wildpoise\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/788eba5ac850d4d1810f02e695ce16a91a310e13cfd8d73e5949dee932148a1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/788eba5ac850d4d1810f02e695ce16a91a310e13cfd8d73e5949dee932148a1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/788eba5ac850d4d1810f02e695ce16a91a310e13cfd8d73e5949dee932148a1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"wildpoise\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wildpoise.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Love Looks Different Now - Wild Poise","description":"A raw, reflective entry journal entry - honest thoughts on healing, resilience, uncertainty, and rebuilding life one day at a time.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Love Looks Different Now - Wild Poise","og_description":"A raw, reflective entry journal entry - honest thoughts on healing, resilience, uncertainty, and rebuilding life one day at a time.","og_url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850","og_site_name":"Wild Poise","article_published_time":"2026-04-01T00:02:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-13T19:21:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"wildpoise","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"wildpoise","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850"},"author":{"name":"wildpoise","@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/fb5baee85acf6300e5069d7cbe0c46d3"},"headline":"Love Looks Different Now","datePublished":"2026-04-01T00:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-13T19:21:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850"},"wordCount":703,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png","articleSection":["Chaos and Grace"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850","url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850","name":"Love Looks Different Now - Wild Poise","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png","datePublished":"2026-04-01T00:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-13T19:21:58+00:00","description":"A raw, reflective entry journal entry - honest thoughts on healing, resilience, uncertainty, and rebuilding life one day at a time.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png","width":512,"height":512},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?p=1850#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Love Looks Different Now"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/","name":"Wild Poise","description":"Rooted. Radiant. Relentlessly Real.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#organization","name":"Wild Poise","url":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ffytr.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ffytr.png","width":464,"height":271,"caption":"Wild Poise"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wild-poise-125b1d4.ingress-alpha.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/fb5baee85acf6300e5069d7cbe0c46d3","name":"wildpoise","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/788eba5ac850d4d1810f02e695ce16a91a310e13cfd8d73e5949dee932148a1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/788eba5ac850d4d1810f02e695ce16a91a310e13cfd8d73e5949dee932148a1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/788eba5ac850d4d1810f02e695ce16a91a310e13cfd8d73e5949dee932148a1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"wildpoise"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/wildpoise.com"],"url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ChatGPT-Image-Dec-7-2025-11_20_37-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2207,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions\/2207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildpoise.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}