Don’t get me wrong; meeting new people has never been easier, especially thanks to the availability of online dating apps like Tinder and Bumble. These apps put thousands of people at your fingertips that you may have never met through your ordinary life, and these days, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that hasn’t outsourced their love life to the online dating realm. There’s no stigma anymore, just a steady stream of likes. Dating apps and sites offer convenience, choice, and an instant confidence boost like, “What? That super hot guy/girl liked me back?!” It can make you feel really good about yourself.
For many of us, however, it’s easy to be discouraged by dick picks, matches that don’t go anywhere, and first dates that fizzle out because flirting via digital pixel doesn’t always translate to offline chemistry. And, don’t even get me started on how confusing getting “catfished” can be.
We live in an online age, and maybe this is just the natural progression of dating into the ever-expanding online segment of our reality. Swiping right takes a lot of the magic out of dating. Personally, I am tired of it.
Maybe I’m like this because society has given us so much technology to connect with others that we feel so disconnected and are craving physical interaction. While you’re scrolling through that dating app, maybe there’s a cute boy or girl sitting across the classroom from you who’s looking for a study partner, and you’re great at calculus. Or, in an office two floors below you, there is someone who takes their lunch break around the same time as you and always goes to that one great sushi restaurant. Maybe, just maybe, they’d love to not eat alone. There’s no right or wrong way to meet “The One,” but if you have Bumble burnout or feel like you’ll never find someone unless you’re swiping hard enough to develop carpal tunnel, take heart.
If you’re feeling stumped as far as where to find a prospective date in real life, remember that the most effortless real-life situations to meet people are ones you already experience.
From the moment you wake up until you go to sleep again, there are countless authentic opportunities to meet someone. This can vary from your commute on public transit, to the coffee shop, at work, the bookstore, out at lunch, in the gym, at the bar for happy hour, attending a volunteer opportunity, while getting groceries, and so on. All you have to do is take advantage of those opportunities that are already there.
If you just think of the places you go each day, all of them likely have potential for meeting someone. The biggest step to take is the one leaving your house to see what happens.
But really, what do I know? Maybe next Valentine’s Day you’ll be splitting a crème brûlée with someone you met organically, at a pub quiz, through mutual friends, or even a blind date. And, if not? There’s always an app for that.
Photo courtesy of Pexels.