It isn't so simple, of course. You understand yourself well enough to know how nuanced your feelings are, how deeply they run, how intricately they connect to all the pieces of your identity. You can't encapsulate them with a pithy summation, a logline, and still do them justice. They're more complicated than that.

You don't need his guidance, for example, but you love it. You're a complete person who can make her own decisions, but knowing he approves of them makes you relieved and assured in ways you cherish. He earns your trust by demonstrating his own wisdom and consistency, and you're excited to follow his instructions because they're the same choices your best self would make. Under his auspices, you're part of an unstoppable team, and excelling at it is satisfying down to your bones. You want to be good beside him.

You don't need his praise, but you love it. You'd awed by how he's clever and kind and perceptive, funny and decisive and strong, hopeful and patient and serious and silly and sweet, all at once. Most of all, you recognize how generous he is with himself, how eager he is to share the virtues he's worked hard to develop in order to help others develop their own. You admire him for the person he's made of himself, so you know that if he tells you he's pleased, he doesn't just mean it – it means something. You hold him in high enough esteem that, more and more, it feels good to measure yourself by how he esteems you. You want to be good because of him.

You don't need to be his, but you love that you get to be. You take care of yourself because that's what he does: take care of you. You keep your mind sharp and your heart open. You build yourself up with passion and perseverance, and you're thrilled to be able to offer him more. It matters less to you what you do for him than why, and you put your faith in his direction just as he's put his trust in your devotion. You want to be good beneath him.

You don't need his affection, but you love it. His heart is as rich and variegated as your own, and his capacity for love feels bottomless. You're as honored as you are humbled when he puts you in your place. He's honest about his feelings, celebrating your merits and helping you with your flaws, and he's excited to do both. He sees you for who you are, all the pieces, and he makes serving him a privilege and a comfort. You want to be good for him.

It isn't so simple, but you love that he doesn't need it to be. Where he has answers, he teaches you; where he doesn't, he holds your hand as you discover them together. Through it all, you get to be yourself – beside him, because of him, beneath him, for him – because you get to be good. To him. The way he is to you.

It may be a lot, but it's all you want.

Tl;dr: Insightful man seeks smart, self-aware woman for realistic life-long TPE relationship. Please inquire via PM for so, so many more details.