It’s easy to think that lockdown has relegated single people to being single for what feels like forever. But if you look a little closer there’s some lovely, romantic stories of local love being found amongst the apocalyptic nightmare that 2020 has felt like.
People, including myself, are still dating. But it looks different this year. We’ve had to be more creative and come up with new ways to meet people. My old advice of “get off dating apps and into a coffee shop as soon as possible” no longer worked, I’ve had to take a different approach, as have many others!
What new approaches have people used?
From reading other blogs and hearing stories from my friends, I know that many people have taken a local approach to dating. Instead of being willing to travel for miles for the right person, they have instead been looking to local sites and local networking groups for singles. Some of my friends who are Dorset singles have been exploring an exciting local Dorset dating site, and I’m hearing the same from all over the country.
With travel restrictions in place that are often meaning we can’t leave our local area, it has been time to reassess the way we look at people on dating sites, and not just immediately pass them by because one little thing on their profile puts us off. I know I’ve been guilty in the past of simply rejecting people because they didn’t seem very exciting, or because they didn’t match everything I was looking for.
Instead I’ve been giving people more of a chance, and having a chat with them instead. It’s not like I’ve got much else to do in the evenings, sitting at home and not being allowed to do the things I would usually be doing. And I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Even though lots of people don’t have great profiles on the various online dating sites, they’re really great people underneath it all. They just can’t write a profile to save their lives!
So because I’ve relaxed my usual criteria for meeting people from dating sites and chatted to them for an extended amount of time instead, I’ve found myself making more connections than I normally would in the same amount of time. And I’m not saying that all of them will turn into connections, but it is always good to know more people. Just last week someone who I probably wasn’t compatible with (and he had realised that too) suggested a friend to me that he thought would be more my kind of guy. Turns out he was right – and we’re grabbing coffee at Neros in a few days after the national lockdown ends!
So don’t be dispirited if you feel like the summer of dating you had planned has passed you by. Instead get on some local dating sites and start meeting people who, like you, are stuck in your local area and are also looking for love. Worst case scenario you make new friends for adventures when the restrictions list. But you never know – you might find someone who you end up dating for years to come!
