Why do I crave deep connection so intensely and how do I live with that longing?

Mirabai's poems aren't about connection as a solution. They're about *longing itself* as a form of love. She didn't stop yearning for Krishna to become practical or well-adjusted. She let that ache remake her. There's a particular kind of person who feels connection as urgent, almost dangerous. You feel the absence of true intimacy like a physical wound. You can't small-talk your way through life. You need *meaning* in your relationships or you feel like you're suffocating. This intensity is not a problem to solve. But here's what changes: instead of treating your longing as a deficit — something wrong with you that prevents you from being happy — you can treat it as a compass. It's telling you what matters. It's demanding that you build a life around depth, not distraction. Mirabai didn't have the modern language of attachment or emotional needs. She had grief and devotion, which are the same thing looked at from different angles. Her longing was her practice. So ask yourself: What if your need for connection isn't weakness, but *direction*? What if you stopped trying to want less and started choosing *who and what* you give that wanting to? A therapist, a creative practice, one person who meets you there, a community, a spiritual path — something real enough to hold it. Your intensity is your depth. Don't flatten it.