Welcome to generation Z,
Where dating is all about mutual connection, vibes, digital profile, a little bit of photo editing and viola! true love is here.
My name is Esme and I am going to lead you on my journey to finding love in the 21st century. Don’t fret, it is way easier than you think. All you need is a profile that says as much as possible about you without necessarily putting any relevant details, what’s more important is the profile picture. I promise you, no one reads the caption if it has the right amount of drip.
It all started on a fateful day last winter when I was on a hunt for a “winter boyfriend”. I thought this was just to be the whole snuggle buddy vibe with a bit of benefits here and there. No you dirty mind, I meant having a friend to tag along to the coffee shops and cafe, croissants and ice cream, and all other place in between that may require companionship. A little travel here and there. I had more organic idea in mind about finding this person until my friend Jasmine decided to create an online profile for me as a distraction from my latest worry.
Not long after, the likes started pouring in. I found one guy and just forgot all about this whole new world of fishes in the ocean waiting for me. Fast forward to a few months later, it is summer now, everyone is out again and I have gone through the cursory tears that follows being served breakfast (naija term for being heartbroken) I am finally ready to try again so I step into this world and you will not believe what I found!
My first date was an Adonis, I kid you not, this guy could be in the movies but I show up on that date and all I felt was brotherly kindness, zero spark. So, one down, a thousand more to go. Apparently, this is about kissing as many frogs as possible until the prince shows up.
Many, many, many date later, still no prince charming but I have been around the block a while now, I have encountered professional weirdoes, made quirky friends, served as a therapist for some, block some others, prayed not to develop a stalking admirer, and the various other dramas that pursue modern love from online.
Oh, you thought this post was about happy endings and fairytales? Nope, it is the more brutal side of isolation and swiping addition. Using dating apps as a way to fulfill a social requirement that involves not so much commitment, the ease of replacing and reducing a person to just their profile picture, swiping out of curiosity and making genuine connections and the facts about rejection.
If anything there is anything this journey has brought me, it is this, the more you perfect the art of swiping, the more you learn not to take rejection personally because you do the same to other people too without necessarily not liking them but just not wanting to get to know them. Then you realize this is what the people who swiped left on you probably thought too.
You experience a dating culture that broadens your horizon through various forms of settings. A meander through the world of possibilities that leaves you wondering where the one is hiding in this wide world.
At this rate, he may have to pay a fine on arrival.🙄
Till we meet next time, keep your eyes out for my Prince Charming.
xoxo,
Dcconoisseur.
Connoisseur of Memories 