An Analysis of Cuffing Season

The smell of pumpkin spice.  The cool wind tousling your hair.  Private Zoom messages from that guy who never turns his camera on.  That’s right ladies, it’s cuffing season.  

If you don’t know what I am talking about, let me explain. Cuffing season refers to those unexpected romances that appear every fall and are gone by the next.  The term has gotten so popular that it appeared in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “…a period of time where single people begin looking for short term partnerships to pass the colder months of the year.”  Well when they put it like that, it sounds pretty nice.

 In theory, cuffing season is meant to carry you all the way to February.  “Scouting” for potential matches starts in late August and the “championship game” occurs on Valentine’s Day.  Although some people make it all the way, most of these relationships are cut short during the preseason, which occurs over the course of November.  Rather than reaching the actual “cuffing” stage in December, these poor souls are left with nothing but “Best Thing I Never Had” on repeat. 

Despite the obvious risks that come with cuffing season, I cannot deny the beauty of the concept.  There is something so human about enjoying things as they fall apart.  We rejoice as the leaves change color knowing we are one step closer to barren trees.  That is really what cuffing season is all about: enjoying the fleeting magic of fall before it is buried by winter snow.   

Several autumns have passed where I am left with regret for allowing myself to be cuffed by the shackles of autumn romance.  I know, from strangers and friends alike, that I am not alone in this feeling.  Every year we say, “Next year I will not be swept up in this cuffing season nonsense.  Next year I will keep my Bean boots planted firmly on the ground.”  Just when we have convinced ourselves of this, we are once again swept off our feet by the same winds that stripped us of our leaves the previous fall.

It is important to be careful.  However, it is also important to remember that no matter how dead your love life may feel, it can and will be revived.  The leaves will grow back.  They will change colors.  And you will feel that magic again.

So if your heart is longing for a season of singleness, embrace it.  If that private Zoom message has given you butterflies, allow them to take flight.  Whichever path you choose to take, I have found it is best to take cuffing season one seasonal beverage at a time. 

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