Where Am I?!

Let’s start with how I found myself in this big bad world of swipes, likes, and roses. After exiting a 5-year marriage, I found myself faced with a behemoth I had never encountered before – the dating app. 

All my dating pre-marriage was very organic. You would vibe with someone you went to school with, chat someone up at a bar, or meet someone at a friend’s house. (The latter is why I’m such a believer that we need to bring back house parties!)

When I found myself single again in 2019 though, the game had changed. Everyone who had managed to find themself someone special the organic way was already paired up, and those who weren’t quite so fortunate found themselves downloading multiple different apps that promised to find them their soulmates – or at the very least, a date for Saturday night.

I learned quickly, however, that not all apps were created equal. Tinder was strictly Hookup Central, Hinge was for folks who took dating a little more seriously, and Bumble was somewhere in between. Then there were apps like Coffee Meet Bagel that were trying to make dating a less difficult experience, but were sadly underadopted.

Another thing I learned quickly, is that everyone was on every app. So despite every app decidedly playing a different role in the dating hunger games, the same gladiators were omnipresent across every arena. I mean, who am I to judge, I was one of them!

This often made it feel pointless to scroll through the same profiles on various apps, every “Oh it’s you again” only adding to the frustration of not finding your rom-com moment despite numerous coffee dates and a dozen robotic recitations in response to “So tell me about yourself”.

I also got to learn a whole lot about this new era of dating – specifically about terms like ghosting, breadcrumbing, lovebombing, et al.

It hasn’t all been bad, though. While I’ve had my fair share of disasters, I’ve met some absolutely wonderful men (who simply weren’t for me). And most importantly, I have kept my friends so very entertained with my almost-weekly stories after every first date! Pretty sure there’s a part of them that wants me to stay single so they can continue to listen to receive regular narrations. 

That’s actually what inspired this series. Having gone on well over 50 first dates (to borrow a reference from the very popular movie), I am armed with a veritable TARDIS-load of stories ranging from Disney fairytale to well, Grimms Brothers fairytales. 

But let me not give too much away just yet. There’s a lot to share, and I’m just getting started.

More coming soon. Stay tuned! 😘