Y’all remember my first encounter with Laurie Berzack, the Carolina Matchmaker? If not, go catch real quick. We’ll wait…
(Seriously, read it. You need the first chapter of this story.)
Okay. You’re up to speed on the basics. Now, let me tell a smidge about my first session with Laurie. You HAVE to promise not to laugh at me or pass loads of judgement. Promise?
Cool.
It’s highly likely I’m the Kevin James to Laurie’s Will Smith ala Hitch. Dating is just HARD for me.
So, when I sat down with Laurie for a 2-hour get-to-know-Arden-and-why-she-is-still-single chat I felt incredibly nervous. But, y’all, it was harmless. And helpful. And a lot of thinking about doing things differently yet still staying within the perimeters of who I am as a person.
She asked where I’d try to meet folks before including all the online dating avenues and what happened there; groups I joined and didn’t join. What day-to-day life looks like for me. Then she began to narrow down where I have options and where I don’t. For me, I spend a lot of time around women with my day job and lots of time alone when I’m writing.
The summation so far: I need to get out of my shell… And into some activities that make sense for me. Active. Intellectual. Helpful activities.
As I looked at her perplexed about where to start, she encouraged me to look into Meetup, a website with a gazillion activities for anyone and everyone. For me, all good relationships seem to bloom out of activities I enjoy.
She also has me thinking about if I’m actually ready to be in a relationship. She puts a  lot of time and energy into making her matches. She expects her clients to be ready to do the same thing.
So, I’m going to check out a few of the Meetup activities that seem cool to me. And I’ll report back to Laurie and y’all in a month or so with the ooey gooey details. ‘Til then, check out Carolina Matchmaker’s Mingling for a Cure at Dandelion Market Feb. 12.
