u/ElephantLament

Planning a trip with a bunch of gay friends in 2027! Any spots that locals recommend?

Who else is currently browsing Reddit while glued to the toilet?? Can I get a "hell yeah" in the comments???

I love how melancholy and real Sally Rooney's books feel. I am not really into lovey-dovey romance, but I LOVE books that look into the bittersweet side of relationships.

I enjoy Sally Rooney but her books feel extremely straight. Does anyone have suggestions for a queer relationship stories that are a little more melancholic?

I keep having to redownload Instagram because a lot of events / venues I go to are too small to have a website and only function through social media. And then once I have it, I somehow always end up back on reels... it's exhausting

I wish there was a way to select all the groups I want to stay updated with and receive news about them via email instead of having to periodically redownload Instagram.

If anyone in this group is tech savvy, consider this a suggestion... or, if you'll indulge me, a request...

I ended a 6-year relationship with a man last year and am now dating women/non-men for the first time.

One thing that makes dating hard for me is that I develop romantic and sexual attraction very slowly. I usually need a strong friendship foundation before I start feeling romantic interest, and my libido is generally pretty low.

Getting dates hasn't been the problem, I've been on more than I can count. The issue is that I've now had three situations where I've seen someone regularly for a few months, only for them to tell me they don't see me romantically. And I can't even recall how many first dates I've had with that same sort of energy.

I always try to be upfront that I'm slow to develop feelings and tend to need a friends-first approach, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm unintentionally giving off platonic vibes. I also wonder whether this is something other sapphics have run into, since so many queer relationships seem to start from friendship.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you balance being honest about needing time while still building romantic connection? How do you signal interest when you're genuinely not ready to move quickly? If I'm being honest, my self confidence is beginning to struggle with all the rejection.

I ended a 6-year relationship with a man last year and am now dating women/non-men for the first time.

One thing that makes dating hard for me is that I develop romantic and sexual attraction very slowly. I usually need a strong friendship foundation before I start feeling romantic interest, and my libido is generally pretty low.

Getting dates hasn't been the problem. The issue is that I've now had three situations where I've seen someone regularly for a few months, only for them to tell me they don't see me romantically.

I always try to be upfront that I'm slow to develop feelings and tend to need a friends-first approach, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm unintentionally giving off platonic vibes. I also wonder whether this is something other sapphics have run into, since so many queer relationships seem to start from friendship.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you balance being honest about needing time while still building romantic connection? How do you signal interest when you're genuinely not ready to move quickly?

I ended a 6-year relationship with a man last year and am now dating women/non-men for the first time bi person.

One thing that makes dating hard for me is that I develop romantic and sexual attraction very slowly. I usually need a strong friendship foundation before I start feeling romantic interest, and my libido is generally pretty low.

Getting dates hasn't been the problem, I've been on more than I can count. The issue is that I've now had three situations where I've seen someone regularly for a few months, only for them to tell me they don't see me romantically. And I can't even recall how many first dates I've had with that same sort of energy.

I always try to be upfront that I'm slow to develop feelings and tend to need a friends-first approach, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm unintentionally giving off platonic vibes or if I'm approaching queer dating the wrong way.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you balance being honest about needing time while still building romantic connection? How can you develop a friendship without screaming "platonic"? If I'm being honest, my self confidence is beginning to struggle with all the rejection.

I ended a 6-year relationship with a man last year and am now dating women/non-men for the first time as a sapphic-leaning bi person.

One thing that makes dating hard for me is that I develop romantic and sexual attraction very slowly. I usually need a strong friendship foundation before I start feeling romantic interest, and my libido is generally pretty low.

Getting dates hasn't been the problem, I've been on more than I can count. The issue is that I've now had three situations where I've seen someone regularly for a few months, only for them to tell me they don't see me romantically. And I can't even recall how many first dates I've had with that same sort of energy.

I always try to be upfront that I'm slow to develop feelings and tend to need a friends-first approach, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm unintentionally giving off platonic vibes or if I'm approaching queer dating the wrong way.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you balance being honest about needing time while still building romantic connection? How can you develop a friendship without screaming "platonic"? If I'm being honest, my self confidence is beginning to struggle with all the rejection.

I ended a 6-year relationship with a man last year and am now dating women/non-men for the first time as a sapphic-leaning bi person.

One thing that makes dating hard for me is that I develop romantic and sexual attraction very slowly. I usually need a strong friendship foundation before I start feeling romantic interest, and my libido is generally pretty low.

Getting dates hasn't been the problem, I've been on more than I can count. The issue is that I've now had three situations where I've seen someone regularly for a few months, only for them to tell me they don't see me romantically. And I can't even recall how many first dates I've had with that same sort of energy.

I always try to be upfront that I'm slow to develop feelings and tend to need a friends-first approach, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm unintentionally giving off platonic vibes or if I'm approaching queer dating the wrong way.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you balance being honest about needing time while still building romantic connection? How can you develop a friendship without screaming "platonic"? If I'm being honest, my self confidence is beginning to struggle with all the rejection.

I’m a PM in consumer goods and I’m seriously questioning my entire career path.

The job pays well, but I feel intellectually and emotionally stagnant. In college I studied human factors/product design and worked on projects tied to meaningful social impact (public spaces, accessibility, trauma-informed design, etc). I thought this user-minded skillset would translate to PM, and to an extent it does, but there is something key missing.

I think my strongest skill is leading calmly under pressure. Before being a PM, I was a stage manager, and I LOVED the feeling of coordinating people in high-stakes, time-sensitive situations. I’m very good in chaos. I become decisive and focused instead of stressed. I didn't pursue being a stage manager because it is a really unstable industry with low pay.

There are definitely parts of being a PM that I love, but I feel like it doesn't feel nearly as meaningful or high-stakes as stage management. I'm just feeling really stuck looking down the barrel of a lifetime career in this field.

Careers I’m considering:

> Medical device PM → easy transition from my current job + meaningful work, but it's a famously slow-paced industry. Maybe start here, get more of an understanding of medicine, and then transition?

> Stage management again → meaningful/exciting but hard financially

> Nursing or healthcare → feels exciting/intense/meaningful, but also like an insane pivot

I think I’m trying to figure out:

1. what careers combine pressure + leadership + meaning + intellectual engagement. Perhaps there are industries in not even considering ...?

2. how people even begin exploring a major pivot without blowing up their life

Has anyone else realized mid-career that they were optimized for the wrong environment? What paths should I be considering?

Thank you all, really appreciate the insights

My undergrad degree was in product design, but my specific school had a really interesting program that was HF adjacent (lots of social science classes, emphasis on design research, etc). After college, I landed a job as a product manager at a big company in the consumer goods industry.

I've been in this role for 4 years and I'm finding myself losing sight of my values - I miss when my work was meaningful during college. I went from researching the impact of community gardens in low income neighborhoods, to researching what type of products different users buy... It's just not where I saw myself going.

I have a pretty limited understanding of what the HF industry really looks like. Does anyone have insights on if a HF masters degree could unlock any more meaningful jobs, or is product management as good as it gets?

Thank you!