Reciprocity

"It could all be so simple/but you'd rather make it hard/loving you is like a battle/and we both end up with scars/Tell me who I have to be/to get some reciprocity?"

-Lauryn Hill "Ex-Factor" 

I love Lauryn Hill. She's one of the greatest. This is one of those songs that I feel more than any other because it couldn't be more true to my life if I'd written it myself. 

Recently I had an AIM away message that said "Funny how reciprocity works..." and many people asked me what that meant. Especially a few people who mistakenly thought that the message was about them. Well here's the definition: 

Reciprocity- mutual exchange;  a mutual or cooperative change of rights or privileges. 

For the record, I'm very single. But my ex-factor has made it such that in my search for the "next-factor" I've created a checklist and put reciprocity right at the top. My away message just meant that I was currently (yeah, all day) reflecting on the idea of reciprocity... the fact that so many are reluctant to give in relationships but expect to get it all. You can't receive without giving and I don't understand people who are stuck in relationship stalemates because both parties are waiting for the other party to give a little before they make their next move. It seems silly. I understand it, but it seems silly nonetheless. Then again, this is coming from a girl who's learning how to detach her heart from her sleeve.