Every now and then when I need a break from work, but still want to feel productive, I do things like clean up my desktop icons or go through and organize my bookmarks. Tonight I was going through bookmarks and I came across the link for an ex’s blog. I forgot I had it. Funny thing is, for the most part, I wrote in my blog extensively while we were together. He didn’t post anything in that time period it looks like.
Mostly his blog is about pickup and self improvement (which I guess for someone in PUA they might tell you they’re the same thing). There weren’t any recent posts, but there were a few from a few weeks after we broke up. They were him trying to get back into PUA and being… well… unsuccessful and creepy.
The thought has occurred to me lately that even though I didn’t initiate that breakup, I’m the one that came better out of it. Even though I’m not going out with anyone, I get the impression I have my shit more together than he does. I think I’ve had more success in being with new people since then. I don’t mean that pick-up style, I mean that just meeting new people. I’m certainly not being the desperate, creepy one.
I think that might be part of his and some other people’s problems. The obsession and focus of meeting the preferred sex for finding a mate is going to make you come off in a particular unattractive way if you let it consume you.
1. You think you need it.
You don’t need to get laid. You don’t need a boy/girlfriend. Life goes on. Great things happen either way. People who think they need it will give off the desperate vibe. The desperate vibe makes a woman feel creeped out, unsafe, and not special at all. I too have fallen into this trap, and I know it doesn’t come off as a good vibe to guys either (at least not the ones you want to attract).
2. It’s your number one motivator for meeting, talking to, and getting to know people.
You only talk to them if you think they might be your type. At the mention of a boy/girlfriend, you’re not interested in communicating with them any more.
This is what I told one of my friends: he may not be your next boyfriend, but what if his brother or best friend is your soulmate? Friends are very valuable to life in general. They can also help you find that next someone. There’s nothing wrong with just making friends.
This also is a problem in the way you approach people. You can flirt without using crappy pickup lines. If you’re smiling a bunch, using good body language, being interested, asking questions about their life, etc., you don’t need to say something like, “Hey, nice shoes… wanna f-“.
I think openers are stupid. Sorry, PUA people. They are. They are just alternate phrasing for crappy pickup line. They’re not any better. Try some genuine, off the top you’re your head, not creepy, real world conversation starters. Walking up to some random person on the street and calling them cute is a no. I’m sorry if someone who uses that is reading this and being offended, but someone has to tell you before you get maced. You may hate me now, but thank me later.
3. You’re approaching it as a player in a game rather than yourself.
As I got to know what PUA was, I didn’t gain much respect for it, and this is one of the big reasons. I love games. You might even call me a gamer. However, meeting people is not going to be won with cheat codes. I don’t care how many books your read, lines you put together based on those, or methods you use. To find someone lasting, you have to put your actual self out there (that includes to meet good friends and significant others).
Are you only interested in shallow acquaintances? Awkward lays? Maybe those lines could work for you then.
I guess the big question is: who are you and what do you want?
I’d like to find someone worth sticking my neck out for again, but I’m in no hurry either. There are a lot of great connections to be made with people out there without expecting them to be the next anything. I want to have fun. I want to meet people. But… I don’t need anything from these people. I’m comfortable here with myself, by myself both growing and existing. I don’t need another half, because I’m already a whole. One day I’d like to meet another whole person, a partner who fits me well, but I know it’s not going to happen by any kind of force.
Tag Archives: single
Times I’m Glad To Be Single Again
“Hey, Cindy, I should tell you since you told me when you started dating someone- I’m dating someone now!”
“Oh, that’s great!”
“Yeah. She’s really hot… and cool…. but I’m afraid she might be psycho.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t know what to do though… because she’s really cool and really hot, and interesting… like she’s mature and intelligent, she like reads and does experimental films and stuff. She graduated from Mass Art.”
“But you think she might be crazy… like artist crazy, or head for the hills psycho girlfriend crazy?”
“Well… I just would never want to be on her bad side… like ever make her angry. She told me this story. She was riding her bike, because she’s into riding bikes. Her and her bike are close.”
“Got it.”
“And this big truck like cuts her off and almost kills her. So at the next light, she like screams at him and gives him the finger and stuff. She’s all, ‘I’ll fight you!! Come out here and fight me!'”
“To the truck?”
“Yeah. He screamed back at her. So she does it again at the next light. He kinda ignores her. So she does it again at the third light and… you know what?”
“What?”
“He spits on her.”
“Ew. That sucks. I can see her going off on the guy, though, almost having been run over.”
“Yeah. True. She told me about this other time her roommate decked her in the face.”
“Really? Why?”
“I have no idea. You must have to do or say something really bad for your roommate to punch you in the face.”
“What was the reason she gave?”
“She said she didn’t know… she was just yelling at her room mate and she got punched.”
“Just yelling? Oh, yeah, no biggie- getting in someone’s face and yelling. I don’t know man. All I know is that you brought her up and didn’t say, ‘She’s nice.’ or ‘I really am happy when I’m with her.’, you said she’s cool, hot, and might be psycho. I’m just repeating back to you what the first qualities you told me were…”
“…yeeeeeah.”
“But, y’know, if you are happy now and just dating, as long as she hasn’t like screamed at you and you haven’t seen any big warning signs, maybe see where it goes… Just make sure you do the right thing at the first sign of anything really crazy.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Besides, you haven’t dated anyone in awhile… maybe you’re just being a little paranoid… a little over cautious.”
“No way. Nope. I’m not. I really think she might be psycho.”
“Oh. Uh. Hm… I don’t know. If you’re that sure… I mean, do what you want.”
No, I’m Still Not Dating Anyone, Thanks For Asking
It will be two years come the end of this October since I have officially belonged to anyone. You’d think from the way people talk to me about it I’m supposed to be sad or upset about it or something. Well, then, here’s a big news flash.
I don’t care. Or, rather, it’s even something to celebrate.
Really, finding someone to date just is not that important to me. I have too many things that should take a bigger precedence in my life than to go out seeking something that will likely turn life topsy turvey anyways. It’s especially silly when I know it will find
me eventually anyways.
People grow concerned. They think it’s a lack of self esteem on my part, which is especially funny considering that it’s opposite. I feel like I don’t need someone else in my life. When I was dating (from two years ago until I started SOLID pretty much) it was partially from fear of being alone. It was partially feeling I needed someone to help me stand on my own two feet.
If anything, I’m a bit sad that people don’t support me in this. They don’t high-five me and say ‘good for you!’ like I think they should. Instead they worry that something is wrong with me.
It’s so funny when it’s the opposite. I’m doing better than I probably ever have been, and people worry because I’m doing it without someone pulling me on their lap or buying me dinner. If anything, maybe someone should have worried when I put too much stock into someone else.
I am not saying that I might not end up dating someone as soon as tomorrow, but I am saying I’m not looking. That’s kind of how I know it will find me.
The more whole I become, the more likely I am to attract the notice of someone else equally as whole and maybe have a healthy relationship for a change.
Should I envy the people who are with other people and are happy? There are things I miss, things that would be nice, but then for every one thing I can think of there is so much more I might be giving up if I jump into something just for the sake of jumping.
People talk about being single is being alone, and I think I felt more lonely in a lot of my relationships. There are games guys can play to keep you from your friends and being just disinterested enough to make you want them more. I’m all set. I will fight tooth and nail to stay out of that situation this time.
So maybe I’m just waiting for the right time, the time for things to be different, the improvement upon an improvement. There’s nothing wrong we being cautious. I’m not desperate, so why should I act like I am?
I’m fine being single. I’m happy to be patient as things continue to come together. Be happy for me.
Doubly Singular
This post’s image is brought to you by the Enix game Soul Blazer for the SNES. On one hand, this may be an introduction to a tutorial. On the other hand, it might be a pickup line.
I enjoy being single. The world is, in general, a much simpler and happy place when you’re dealing with a single point of view. It’s a bit harder to argue with yourself. I’m not much in the habit of betraying myself. And when I screw up, no one is there to tell me so or rub it in except me. I’m hard enough on myself, so it’s a bit of a relief to not have double the guilt.
I’ve seen enough people cringe when I go on like that. I know approximately what they’re thinking. “Wow. That’s a pretty jaded viewpoint. What about all the good stuff?”
I used to have good answers to this sort of cynicism. I used terms like “…when I find my soul mate…” as opposed to, “…if something close to this even exists…”. I used to believe that love could be enough to make any relationship work if you worked at it hard enough.
But, really, it doesn’t work that way. People suck. A person will expect you to work at the relationship while simultaneously looking over their shoulder for something better, making you feel like you’re doing something wrong, and not feeling even remotely obligated to meet you half way on anything.
The two ways of dealing with someone when they try to make you meet them half way on anything:
1. Argue.
2. Agree without even listening to what you’re agreeing to.
I prefer people that will argue over those who will ‘yup’ you. “Yes, honey” makes me want to impale peeps and marshmallow bunnies on knives while pretending they’re real. You at least can be sure the argumentative ones are being honest about what they think and feel with you. They trust you enough to expose their own opinions and feelings. Unfortunately, they also usually think their thoughts are automatically more qualified than anyone else’s. It’s not that they think they’re always right, it’s that you’re always at least more wrong than they are (if you are performing the great sacrilege of having a different point of view).
To these people, being wrong is a significant event that determines one’s mental capacity. Proving someone wrong and making them feel stupid for it go hand in hand. Nothing says “I love you.” more than, “You moron, you got that movie quote wrong.”
Even though I like being single, I will admit that finding that ideal other person would also be wonderful. It’s something that is always at least in the back of every single person’s mind: what is your ideal like? What are you going to look for differently next time (as if we don’t chose slight variations on the same type of people over and over)?
I’m thinking that next time I will try to find someone that has the capacity to both be very honest *and* very caring. I want to find someone that will feel like they can say anything to me, but would like that person to have the ability to say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” and “I don’t agree with you, but you make a valid point.” and mean it.
I could go on to say that the idea person would be a dichotomy between a lot of things. I am someone who has always been (somehow) extremely left brained and right brained at the same time. I also have the capacity to be both over logical and over emotional. If this doesn’t make any sense, get to know me better. If this sounds frightening, it can be, so you might want to poke me with a stick through my cage a few times before getting too close.
But what is with this useless exercise? It’s the ultimate self centered thought, to pretend there is going to be someone else out there who you will find in your lifetime that matches your wants and needs more perfectly than you even understand those wants and needs.
On top of that, I’m pretending I’ll actually chose things about the person the next time my mind and body betray me and do the love suicide march once again.
I have not planned it when it’s happened. I’ll not even be looking.
So, as I continue to actively not look for someone else, I also try not to go down this silly road wrought with self-indulgent romanticism. The pessimistic blather may not be much better, but it at least supports my independence. It’s better than being a desperate romantic any day.