Some people really don’t believe age is just a number. But I see it as a number when you’re emotionally or mentally on the same level as your partner. The whole point of a relationship is to grow together and to keep thriving together, or to build each other up.

I was with a guy two years older when I was 16 and people made a big deal about it because of laws and a minor dating an adult. Looking back, I still see no issue with it. Mentally, I was on a higher level than him, but emotionally I was still a little immature.

The age gap itself is no one’s business but the partners that share the relationship. As someone who prefers older men, I should be able to date them without being criticized for it. Since when does someone else’s opinion matter in comparison to your happiness?

If you’re on the same level mentally, the conversations are endless. They can be full of life and important things or issues, or they can just be goofy conversations. To be able to have an intellectual conversation with someone about music or something political related, allows you to form your own opinion on things and sometimes educate yourself. It allows you to see another person’s point of view but also in comparison to your own. The stigma with the age gap is traditionally that is “weird”. If you’re legal, obviously, there’s nothing wrong with dating someone five years older. I used to have an issue with it, until I saw a different side. I see couples, some older, some younger, with a large difference of up to 10 years happy as hell. It really made me think that it’s not my place to judge.

Society is so full of judging and has its own “policies” and “rules” that people are taught to follow as the norm. Because of this, there’s not much self-expression without judgement. Society has robbed some people of their true values so they can fit in. I refuse to conform to society and the rules, especially relationship wise. If I’m happy, how does it affect someone else? It doesn’t.