So last time I went home, I spent some time updating my mom on campus life. There was a lot to tell her about people: how some people had drifted off, others had come along, and things were good in general. After spending some time talking about one friend, my mom just dropped in passing, "That's what I think it's going to take for you. Someone who's smart, pretty, talented, different.."
I couldn't help but agree. That was my list in a nutshell. Granted, things like "pretty" carry several more adjectives along with them, but as far as nutshell evaluations go, I think that's great. And that little nutshell pulled me out of the stupidity that's been my first year and change of college. Up to recently it was just randomly wandering around, talking to everyone, occasionally getting something that would last longer than a few days and a pair of unanswered phone calls.
Now I sort of have this reminder that it's much easier and rewarding to go after girls that there's a sort of "click" with. Not chemistry, that's something else entirely. But a "click" comes from the same sort of thing that makes you say "I KNOW!" like 50 times on a date with someone you have just everything in common with. Problem: girls I click with are rare. Really rare. I'm just that twisted. But my mom's little nutshell evaluation of what I'm looking for prescribes a really rare chick: when's the last time you've met a smart/pretty/talented/different person of the opposite sex who's single and not completely off their rocker?
This, I think, might be the guiding principle for my love life in my early 20s. (They're coming up, ya know. December 3rd.) Just wait for a click to happen, and then enjoy it instead of wasting time and effort and acting like some kind of playa, saying all these premeditated lines that you have to drop just to pass muster with Ashley the Average Girl. I'll definitely wind up single more often than not, but it's better than broke from lame dates and exhausted from forced conversations. At the very least, I have a little direction for myself, and that makes me happy.