I feel stuck and unsure what to do with my romantic life. Need advice.

Hi all,

I'm a 25 year old woman. I was born in India and moved to Canada when I was 10 years old. I'm graduating from law school in a month, and returning to the city I grew up in for work. I'll be living with my parents while I work (at least for a year or so) just to save money and pay off student loans. I was recently broken up with (December 2024, over the holidays) by someone I'd been together with for 1.5 years. This breakup shook me to my core as he was my first love and we discussed marriage, kids, purchasing a home together, etc. It was the first serious relationship I had, and I did a lot to make it work. But in the end, he decided I wasn't worth it. I had been healing, slowly but surely, but there are some days that it just hits me like a truck.

I recently got back on the apps (Bumble/Hinge) and have been finding it extremely difficult to find men that fit my standards (not a long list btw). But I think my biggest problem is my insanely traditional parents. My ex was of Indian background but just from a different region, and it took a long time to convince them to be okay with it. After I told them we broke up, they were both elated and just assumed that I would find someone of our regional group or I'd let them find someone for me.

While I'm open to the idea of marrying someone within our group, I noticed that most Indian men I've dated (and my friends' experiences) are very emotionally unavailable and the family/in-law dynamics get pretty ugly towards the girl. I am unfortunately someone with deep emotional needs. So, I have been contemplating branching out and start dating people outside my race. However, I am just so scared of the reactions from my parents/family.

Has anyone been in a similar boat? What did you do? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.