Incoming… letter number 2 of Love Letters from a Creative Chimera: a newsletter & microblog capturing things, people, and ideas that have made me fall absolutely in love with life over and over again. My name is XinYi and this podcast is where I read my letters for those who prefer to consume their content through audio rather than reading off a screen.

This particular letter is near and dear to my heart because it’s the first time I’ve publicly announced that I’m aromatic. To make things even more confusing, it’s a love letter about my romantic relationship with my husband, whom I address. Have I piqued your interest? If so… here we go!

🐉

to the sun of my life & dragon to my moon,

It will forever confound me how you could confess to an aromatic alien like myself — to love me so purely and unconditionally even when you knew that I could never return your love. But I had also always wondered, living as an outsider looking in, what it would feel like to experience romance — this feeling so innate to the human experience that it propagated all forms of media... 

[ 💌 full letter found on creativechimera.substack.com!] 

Yet, despite all odds, you love me anyways — exactly as I was, just as I am, and wholesomely as I will become.

So, of course, I fell for you in return.

Maybe not in the same way one normally does, but I love you all the same. And some parts of this love has been tragic and painful, but I was aware that I’d be opening myself up to sorrow if I wanted to experience true intimacy. Everything worth it in life has never been, and never will be, easy.

And in so many ways, I feel like perhaps this love is more real. I know with absolute certainty that it will always be you. Regardless of where we are, who we become, and all the lives we’ll live, if I can know you again, I will undoubtedly fall for you in every single lifeline.

Because you make me fall in love with life,

and you make me fall in love with myself.

xx besos,

your alien chica & phoenix to your stars

For context, I wrote that for our 1 year anniversary. It’s been a huge relief to reveal this about myself publicly because of the overwhelming amount of love and support I’ve received from my friends. I think generally speaking, it feels so rare to find examples of aromantic characters in media that it  seems like we don’t exist at all.

In my opinion, a really good fictional work that explores the ideas of alternative forms of genuine love is the book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Without giving away any spoilers, I’ll just say that the cast depicted forms of love that even I could understand. This is a big deal because prior to meeting my husband, most forms of affection in the romantic spectrum actually made me physically gag ( side note: this is a completely personal account and I don’t want to make a generalization about other’s people experience of aromanticism).  If you’ve read this book or are considering reading it, have thoughts you want to discuss, feel free to message me @creative.chimera on instagram or comment on the original letter on creativechimera.substack.com! 

Or visit my website @ https://desktop.creative-chimera.com

Write back soon! Bye!