While I am a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a man, I still want to be in a relationship and quite frankly, that's OK.

We seem to live in a time where it appears like people are either only hooking up or are in relationships. And there's nothing wrong with either of those things. What's wrong is when we shame people for wanting to be in a relationship.

Look, it's truly OK to want to be in a relationship. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be in one. And the fact of the matter is that it's a basic human desire.

There is nothing wrong or shameful with wanting to feel loved and connected to someone else who is not your friend or family. The love you have between a significant other is completely different than what you experience with your friends or family, and it should be.

Sometimes, you really want to feel the connection between yourself and another person. You want to be able to share everything with them and know that they will be their to support you and tell you what they really think. Sometimes, you want someone to hold you and tell you things are going to be OK. Sometimes, you want to feel a connection to someone that wants you for you, and that's OK.

It is a basic human desire to want to be loved and accepted by someone who you can share the rest of your life with. And there is nothing wrong with that because deep down, we all want that. We all want to find someone to love and care for and to do stupid stuff with.

And we have to stop telling people they don't need a relationship. I know that. I don't need a man in my life. I don't need a relationship... but I want one. Do you see the difference there?

There is nothing wrong with me for wanting one either. I am content with being single, as I have been for my entire life. I can do things by myself and I enjoy doing things by myself. There are times when I truly love being single. I like my independence and I always will, but I still have this underlying feeling of wanting to be in a relationship. And it goes beyond the desire to be in one because I've never been in one.

I want to be in a relationship because I want what the people around me have. I have a basic human desire to want to be loved and cared for, and that doesn't make me weird.

I want someone to tell me when I'm being dumb, to tell me when I'm annoying, when I'm being cute, when I look tired, etc. It's human nature, and I see nothing wrong with that.

What we have to stop doing, though, is telling people that they don't need one. We know we don't need one. Stop telling single people that. Instead, tell people that it's OK to want one, that it is OK to crave the basic human desire and to fall to our more basic instincts.