Discover Aligned Love That Lasts

This last month has felt like a year. I’ve experienced disruption and grief on both macro and micro levels. A close-call family emergency at the end of January rattled me, and put me face to face with one of the dreaded question marks of life: mortality. 

Times like these invite us to assess what really matters most to us. Our most challenging moments are often what it takes to step back and take inventory of how we’re living. 

However, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in alignment with my self’s dark hours. Sure, I am impacted. But as I returned home from consecutive 10 hour days at the hospital I was struck by how much I enjoy my life and how little I want to change. 

That wasn’t always the case. Since 2020 I changed almost everything – I moved across the country to be closer to family, ended a long-term relationship and left my corporate job.  

The self-development journey I’ve been on since has allowed me to put down roots in ways that have consistently supported me through the last month and beyond. 

• I have clear, chosen values that guide my decisions.

• I prioritize tools and rituals that bring me inner safety and peace.

• I surround myself with my community of chosen family that give me strength.

• I nurture my aligned relationship with my fiancé that shows me what total acceptance and love feels like.  

For the first time, I want to tell my values-aligned love story. Four years ago, I created a dating profile with no photos, just screenshots of my values and how I envisioned them being shared in an aligned partnership.

After a series of failed long-term relationships, I wanted to try something different. What might happen if values were the foundation of our connection, not an afterthought or something we discover on the fifth (or fifteenth) date? 

Here’s what I learned: 

Aligned love isn’t about perfection—it’s about prioritizing your non-negotiables and communicating them clearly and often. Earlier this month, my fiancé and I celebrated 4 years of swiping right to prioritizing the big stuff—our values—and let the rest be human. We’re building a life where we both feel seen, valued and loved. 

This strong foundation of acceptance and love has been a major safety net as I continue to navigate change, overcome hurdles and try new things. Launching from a secure, aligned relationship that mirrors the love I have for myself is the greatest gift I’ve ever received.  

Have you ever considered using your values to find aligned love?  

• What are your non-negotiables? 

• How can you honor those values in your relationships—starting with the one you have with yourself? 

• What would it feel like to love and be loved from a place of deep alignment?  

Everyone deserves this and everyone can have this. Love that lasts begins with a single, defiant act: believing you deserve it. I hope you do and that your love story includes finding someone who aligns with your values, too.