A friend of mine who is single likes to go down by the river to pray, to meditate, and to write. He made an intriguing comment to me about “. . . my solo river sunset date nights.” The thought occurred to me that a person could have a nice date night with themselves.
For many of us, this radically crazy practice might help us to get better acquainted with ourselves. And let’s face it, most of us are not nearly as acquainted with ourselves as we would like to think we are.
We wouldn’t have to make a big production of this, though we probably should take a shower and dress up a little. We could go to a restaurant we particularly like, or for a picnic, or a bike ride. We could take ourselves out to a concert or a baseball game.
An occasional (or regular?) self-date night/day could counter our very human tendency to do everything possible to avoid knowing ourselves. We think that if we don’t have somebody with us, we have to be miserable.
No! As important as people are to us—and they are important to us—we can survive and thrive for a while without them. In fact, a date with ourselves could position us to be nicer for other people to be around. As someone has said, “If you can’t stand being alone, don’t inflict your presence on others.”
I just googled self-dating. It appears that solo dating is a real thing. It may be new to me, but it isn’t new. This could make me feel a little foolish. “Huh, I thought I had an original day, but I didn’t.” Or I could take this as, “Wow! I’m on the right track! Other people have tried this!”
I think I’ll do the “Wow” thing. I’ll let you know how my date with myself goes. I hope that we have something to talk about. And then there is the question of who will pick up the tab.
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