We love stories about people who refused to give up. We make considerably less inspirational merchandise for the person who looked at the available evidence and said: Actually, fuck this. And yet I've begun to wonder whether knowing when to stop requires at least as much wisdom as knowing when to continue.

A darkly funny reflection on dating apps, dwindling optimism, and the strange exhaustion of continuing to hope for something ordinary.

Why do some minds make us lean closer, while others leave us searching for the energy to reply? A reflection on letters, chemistry and the people worth waiting for.