Wednesday, July 17, 2013

forty days of dating


    Two attractive, single, designers decided to collaborate on a personal project/social experiment - forty days of dating. They have been friends for a long time (though it isn't clear how long) and decided to date for forty days when they found themselves single at the same time. They classify themselves as someone with "opposite relationship problems" - the girl is in love with the idea of love and gets serious too fast, the guy is in love with freedom and flees when it gets serious. 

    These are the rules: (i) they will see each other every day, (ii) they will go on at least three dates a week, (iii) they will see a couple therapist once a week, (iv) they will go on one weekend trip together and (v) they will be exclusive. 

    The entries (beautiful and thoughtful) are dated March, but the website/project has only just launched publicly in July - so you will have to wait each day to see if they do "find love?" - in its abstract or with each other. Even as they start with the consciousness that they are "dating", they grapple with the problems of defining "what this is". They promise to document everything - this is a promise fraught with hope and complications - because will you be documenting the first frissons of love or the breakdown of a once good friendship? Or, are they both the same thing? 

    This is a love story - and a love story only applies to the individuals in it. It is fascinating in the way we find all stories of love fascinating - we try to see ourselves in the happily ever afters and find explanations for past failures in the unhappily ever afters. We always seek connections. We will always crave love. We are humans - that is what we do. 

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