I've been thinking a lot about love this month—love for one's work, for others and love for the process. Truly loving a craft, person or a journey often requires effort and patience and an openness to learning that isn't (always) inherent. It's tough, but if it's right it can be absolutely worth it.

In thinking of love, I'm reminded of my conversation with Jozen Cummings.

Here are 3 things I learned about love from this episode:

1. Feel all the feels
...Go through it all.

A good portion of life is trial and error. Give yourself enough time to try things out. To learn what genuinely works for you and what doesn't, you have to try different things and understand that it's an integral part of the process.

2. What you work on now, will prepare you for who you become later
...Being young is not about avoiding feelings and it's not about trying to avoid difficult moments.

Avoiding feelings does not help you grow as a person, as a creative nor as a partner. You may not have an immediate solution, but naming these feelings and reflecting on the why behind them can be a step in the right direction. Becoming the best version of yourself isn't easy! But what you put off today, will only be what you face tomorrow. Start doing the work now.

3. This stuff isn't easy
...nothing is more difficult than navigating love and relationships.

Navigating any kind of relationship gets challenging at certain points. All you can do is put in the effort, learn from missteps, and repeat that process again and again. Just because this work can be hard, doesn't mean it isn't necessary.

For the full conversation with Jozen, listen to that First Year Project episode here.