And so it begins. The search. The quest. The mission.

I’ve known the day would come for quite some time now. I had been putting it off for a while, a long while actually. But when even your own mother is advocating that you join a dating site, you really should take heed.

A bit of back story: I have been single for 2+ years. The true duration leans heavily on the “+” side but 2+ years is the official time scale I will offer for now. I have dated a few guys in this period. One was very briefly promoted to boyfriend but if I’m honest with myself, I had my reservations from the beginning. I pursued regardless, despite the connection never feeling wholly right between us. But what I regret most is that he managed to call it quits before I did.

Maybe it sounds a little too much like a fairy tale to think you’re going to embark on a journey that will result in you finding your true love. For one, how do you even willingly go about meeting new people, other than at a singles event? Particularly in London where, if like me you live alone, and each morning could easily spend x amount of time getting ready, leave home to board and alight various modes of transport on your commute to work and finally utter your first words of the day to your colleagues, roughly 1.5-2 hours after first waking up? There are days when I try to be the initiator of a friendly smile among strangers, some will nervously return the gesture, while others would rather pretend they didn’t make eye contact with you. Sadly, this is the level of stranger interaction we’ve come to expect.

I love the idea of an organic story, one that you’re happy to relive and retell many years later, right up until your 40th wedding anniversary. The classic, we went to school/university together, I dropped my groceries and he helped me repack my bags, or we always bumped into each other at the café and one day we just sat and chatted over a skinny hazelnut latte. I’m a romantic to the core, with a slight belief that everything does happen for a reason. Sometimes, certain things ARE set in motion to bring you to a point where all that was meant to be, comes together in a perfect moment. (Incidentally, I did meet a great guy in this way once but more on that much later.)

In saying that, perhaps the beginning of the story is not so important. The best plots are the ones with twists and turns, unexpected moments that make you question all that has happened before and leaves you eager to know what will happen next. The beginning of the journey is not the most interesting bit, often it contains the most insignificant details. It’s just an introduction. What really is important is the ending, the finale in comparison to the opening act.

And that’s online dating for you, an introduction brokerage service. It can’t promise that it will present to you your personified version of Mr/Mrs Right (or even Right-Now for that matter) but it will at least broaden your options a bit. The people who generally go unnoticed while on your travels from A to wherever, suddenly become potentials. Especially when they’re so willingly presented before you, it’s amazing who might just pique your interest.

Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results”. I can’t say for sure what it is that I’ve continuously been doing wrong but for sure I haven’t done the right thing. And on more than one occasion. So here I am, trying something new, taking an alternative approach, albeit a less than organic one, and hoping for the right result. Only time will tell I guess…..