Sometimes after a long and committed relationship ends, the best medicine for yourself is to be single and stay away from being seriously attached to anyone, and you should do this for at least a year or two, until you’ve mastered the art of being alone but not lonely.

And that’s exactly what actress and dancer Julianne Hough tried to do, after she ended her relationship to media juggernaut Ryan Seacrest a while back.

But it doesn’t seem like she accomplished her goal, because Hough is now dating hockey player Brooks Laich. Plus, she likes the feeling of being in a committed relationship, she said.

“I’m a relationship girl, and I feel so grateful for the ones I’ve been in,” said Hough in an interview with Self magazine. “They’ve been excellent. I’ve been hurt but never angry, and they’ve helped me grow to be who I am today.”

There are some relationship experts who’ve said that most people don’t really know how to be alone, and that’s why they jump into relationships so quickly, and that’s the very reason why Hough said she wanted to remain single for a while.

Apparently, she spoke to Self magazine shortly before meeting Laich, because she wasn’t looking for a relationship at all, she said.

“But my goal has been to be single for an entire year,” she explained.

“There have been moments when I’m like, ‘This sucks.’ But my dad used to say to me, ‘When you feel happy with who you are, you won’t need anybody to fill a void.’ So for now, I’m focusing on my work and my soul. I honestly don’t care if I meet somebody or not. I’m just loving life on my own with my own two feet on the ground.”

Image via Wikimedia Commons