I notice the difference.

It is innocent. It is kind. It is slow. It isn’t sexualized. I think that last one is what really makes it different from the rest. I am attracted to him and find him handsome. I want to kiss him and just that. He kisses me and tries nothing more. We go on dates. And not the kind that involve sitting at a cold table while having a drink with the pressure of formal romance that comes from dim lighted space and word “date”. We go on dates that reflect who we are. Our first date was at the park with a bottle of wine, connect four and ended with a walk to a lookout over the city. It was romantic but casual. After that was surfing. Well, him teaching my clumsy ass how to lol.

When we say goodbye, it’s not the next morning. We haven't gotten to the sleepover portion just yet. Hec, we haven’t even hung out at each other’s places yet. And i like that. I appreciate that. It gives me something to look forward to. And it allows us to take our time getting to know each other in a friendly manner. We are meeting each other for who we are as individuals first. 

Our dating culture has become so accustomed to think that there can be no platonic moments, not even in the beginning. If we are attracted to someone then we need to show it by sexualixing the connection. It’s like the R-rated version of flirting is all that the audience wants nowadays. We’ve almost become completely uncomfortable with the slow and steady show of attraction. It goes back to that instant gratification we long for. We’ve experienced it almost our entire lives through technology -tv, internet etc.. what we might not have noticed is that we also do it with love. We want the entire experience of the relationship (or at least a preview of it) before it even starts so that way we know what we’re getting into. We rush into so much that we crash before we even get past the ‘start’ line.

let’s slow down.