Dear reader,

I’ve always wondered why romantic movies take me so far away.

Maybe it’s the soundtrack.
Maybe it’s that autumn feeling so many films from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s carry.
The simple, unlikely romance.
The leading lady and the charming man.
When Norah Jones Plays in the Background…

There’s something about those movies that has always made me drift away.

When I was a child, I used to watch them and ask myself:
when I fall in love… will Norah Jones be playing in the background too?

Well… I still don’t know.

But for those of us who grew up watching Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, Two Weeks Notice, Imagine Me & You, Sabrina, and so many others… I can’t help but wonder:

how did the world change so much that it’s now so hard to find truly good romance movies?

Sometimes I just want to watch one of those stories –
the kind you know might never happen to you –
with a cozy soundtrack
and that everlasting autumn air.

Or maybe…

maybe I want to live it one day.

Even knowing that, statistically speaking, many of those movie couples would probably end up in a beautiful divorce.

And still.

I feel like nowadays — with everything happening in the world — people need to start dreaming again.
They need to imagine themselves inside their own love stories.

To look at their partner…
and still feel like a Carole King song is playing in the background.

And I find myself wondering:

Where did romance go?

Or maybe the real question is:

did true romance ever really exist?

I don’t have the answer yet.

But now, approaching my 30s — with a love life more chaotic than Bridget Jones’ — I’m starting to think it’s time we begin turning our lives into a romance…

—even without someone by our side.

Norah Jones can still be our soundtrack
while we learn to love ourselves.

We can take ourselves out to a romantic dinner.
Buy flowers for ourselves.
Light candles on an ordinary Tuesday.

And no —
I don’t think that’s pathetic.

Maybe it’s simply learning to fill real life with a touch of cinematic magic.
To understand that reality can be romantic too…
without another person being at the center of it.

I think growing up watching those films made me believe that one day I would live my own great love story.

But dear reader, living on expectations is a quiet form of frustration.

Waiting for someone can make us miss the chance to live the most beautiful love story that exists:

the one you have with yourself.

With love,
Bárbara