*This is a collaborative post*
As someone who is married and, to coin an old fashioned phrase, “settled down”, the prospect of love and dating in the time of Covid19 and beyond hadn’t really crossed my mind, much. But a good friend of mine, who became unexpectedly single last year, had just started putting her toe into the water of dating and meeting people, and for her, and I think for many other people, life in lockdown and the restrictions we faced and still do, have made that a much harder prospect. Stepping out and trying to find romance, or even just meeting new people can be challenging, but add in social distancing, the worry of catching or spreading the virus, and life having changed rather dramatically in a few short months, and now looking pretty different and it’s a whole new adventure that has to be negotiated.
Not only have you got the hurdle of meeting someone you might like to get to know, but you also have to work out how you get to know them, and whether dating them will work, but you have to add in the rules around social distancing, what you can and can’t do, where you can go and working around that isn’t easy. The life we now live as we all try and deal with living during a pandemic has changed and dating has too.
Dating sites have grown in popularity in the past few years. When I was young, free and single they were around but we didn’t have the tech we do now, so it wasn’t as easy or simple to sign up, and arrange to meet someone who you might click with.
But now, they really could help people who are trying to enjoy life, meet new people, find romance or even find someone to commit to. My friend and I were chatting during a socially distanced coffee date recently and I was rather sheepish about the whole idea of looking for love or even the odd date online, but she has been trying online dating out, and has found that using some apps has helped her to be more inventive and find ways around the restrictions that life has in places safely.
Whilst meeting up in person is fairly restricted right now, she’s working on “distance dating” and getting to know people before she takes things further and agrees to meet them. Finding inventive ways to get to know someone that feels comfortable during a time of uncertainty can be tricky.
Video chats and instant messaging to communicate and learn more about people has helped and she’s been very picky about what sites she uses to find people that she thinks might like to get to know better. Currently, her site of choice is www.welovedates.com.
Romance and dating can still happen, but there is a new level of inventiveness that people are finding they have to level up to make it work. Meeting up for walks and visiting places that are now safely open, whilst adhering to social distancing rules has made it harder to get to know prospective dates but it also apparently has helped her work out what she wants and if someone is happy to take things slowly and sensibly due to COVID and the complications it’s added to life when love and dating then she knows they may be someone who she might get to know better.
There is hope, and through history, we have seen that humanity has found ways around what life throws at us to continue to find love and romance. Using technology and common sense, it would seem, works. So far, despite a few humorous hiccups, my friend is finding dating and meeting new people not as hard as she thought it would be, and she is enjoying the challenge. She says that whilst it’s not something she expected to deal with if she finds someone she wants to get to know better and even a longer-term relationship, the extra hurdles won’t have been a bad thing and it will be worth it. I am keeping my fingers crossed for her, and all those who are out there, working on dating. It’s certainly an adventure that no one anticipated.
How have you found love and dating during this time? Any tips or tricks to help? What would you say works and what doesn’t and have you found it much harder to meet people, in real life or just to get to know gradually?