Ending 100 dates
Although I have reported on each of my ten dates, I felt like I should round off the project with a final blog post.
When I started 100 dates my biggest fear about the project was that no one would want to go out with me, and there I’d be, hanging out on the internet with no dates to go on. Seriously. So I was thrilled and relieved when my first date recommendation came through, then the second, then the third, etc etc right up to ten! Ten whole dates. Amazing.
And I was lucky to go on ten dates with ten very nice people. There was no one I dated that I’d never want to see again – sorry, no disasters – even though I mostly wasn’t interested in them romantically. So I would call that a success, even if my facebook status is still listed as ‘single’. Oh, that sounds very final! But there is still some stuff ongoing…
What I loved about doing 100 dates was the unashamed dating. There was no murky is-this-a-coffee-or-is-it-a-date territory: both parties were there to assess potential, to put it bluntly. I liked the lack of ambiguity in that, the formality I guess. That said, I found going on the dates really nerve-wracking! I never really chilled out about that and found my cool.
So what did I get out of 100 dates? It gave me a push to think more deeply about what and who I’m really looking for, romantically, sexually, and any other -lys. It gave me the context to tell people that I’m looking, even if I’m not really sure what I’m looking for yet. It opened up many, many amazing conversations with people about dating and romance. It was interesting.
To be honest, I think I’m still processing the whole experience. The only criticism I got about the project was that my date diary wasn’t very revealing. It was very important to me to be respectful to the people I dated – and there weren’t that many salacious details anyway. But no doubt I will write about it in more detail once I have a bit of distance – so if you’re keen to see how things pan out, drop by my blog or visit me on twitter.
I’m really interested in seeing where this project goes from here and following the exploits of the next daters. If I had a piece of advice to impart it would be this: do the dates quickly! For me it took three months from start to end, but I think short-term, total immersion is the way to go.
The last thing I have to do is thank everyone who has been following and supporting me, and this project and of course the people I dated and those who recommended them to me: you really made my 100 dates experience wonderful, thanks so much for being so awesome!
