Bybyberry

“Be alone, Jen. You know how to be alone without being lonely. Do you know how rare that is? Do you know how much I wish I could do that? It’s a wonderful thing you’ve got going on there.”
― Dolly Alderton, Good Material

“Yeah, she is—sorry, I can’t lie to you, Andy,” Jane says. “It’s actually for her, the trip.” “Why?” “To help her with the break-up,” she says, as if it’s obvious. “To take her mind off things, cheer her up. Talk it through.” I look at Avi indignantly. “You hear that? She gets a whole weekend.” “I’ve got a whole weekend planned.” He shrugs defensively. “Oh yeah, like what?” “Like…tomorrow. When we’re hung-over. I’ve checked if the local KFC delivers on Uber Eats.” “And?” I demand. “They do.” “We’re doing a hammam and a forest walk,” Jane offers.”
― Dolly Alderton, Good Material

“I don't know whether it was something I actually wanted, or whether it was something I got frustrated with myself for not wanting .Did I get bored of myself? Did I become too familiar with the rhythms of single life? Did I start to believe what everyone was telling me? That I was going to run out of time and get left behind? OR was it that I thought that being in a relationship might prove something ? That I wasn't unfeminine or unlovable or incapable of being a grown-up? That I was, in fact, perfectly normal like everyone else.”
― Dolly Alderton, Good Material

“...romantics are, ironically, the worst culprits for being relationship avoidant. This is for two reasons. The first being that committing to someone would mean they would have to call off the search for love, and nothing is more romantic than longing. The second is that they spend a lot of time thinking about who their partner might be, so it's hard to find the 3D version that matches who they've invented in their mind. It's less about perfection, and more about prescriptivism. They write their own version of how they think love is going to pan out, then they find it perplexing that no one seems to know the specific plot and characters other than them.”
― Dolly Alderton, Dear Dolly