Hello readers, I’m back! I know you’ve probably been wondering where I’ve been and I’m sorry for having neglected my GAT duties. But, you see, my life over the past few weeks has revolved around … Skype, actually. Because I’ve kinda fallen for someone who doesn’t live locally. In fact, he lives three and a half hours away. On a plane.
Gah, I know! How very inconvenient. After the drama of Atheist Boy and the yawn of Pleasant Guy and then that nightmarish PDA in church I was forced to sit through, you’d think God might have given me a little break and provided me with a straightforward local love?
Haha, of course not! God continues to work in mysterious ways in my love life.
Skype Boy and I have never met. I don’t know what he smells like. I can’t say with 100 per cent certainty whether or not he picks-his-nose-and-eats-it (my sister’s greatest concern about this situation). We were introduced (virtually) some years ago through a friend. I shall say no more on that…
But suffice it to say we get on… really well. We talk about everything: faith and family and politics and music and hopes and dreams and worries. He talks about the future. We talk about meeting “IRL”*.
Here’s the thing though: are my 2D Skype dates the real thing? Or, in the words of Bohemian Rhapsody, is this just fantasy? In this world of virtual reality where you can talk constantly to your friends and loved ones, but go for months without hugging them; can true relationships work if they exist only in cyberspace?
Am I escaping to the world of cyber romance because it makes me feel loved and connected without us having to go through the daily grind of life in 3D? And is any of this healthy? I have found myself clearing my evening schedule to ensure I can get home before he sleeps because of the time difference.
I’ve found myself obsessively watching the BRILLIANT Catfish on MTV (don’t judge me!) – a series which unites couples who have been in online relationships but who have never met – some of them have been online dating for as long as a decade!
There’s no way I would let this drag on for that long, but I can see how it could happen. Because there’s comfort in having someone who lives inside your laptop but who never sees you when you’ve just got out of bed or when you’re having a bad hair day. (I confess I do re-apply make-up and brush my hair before I answer to that Skype ring tone – you know the doo-beee-dooo-beeeee-do-beeee one? – which now makes my heart go all a-flutter!).
As far as Skype Boy is concerned, I am always immaculate. I would absolutely never wear just a wrinkly old t-shirt and saggy jogging bottoms. I definitely do NOT get changed into my jim-jams at 7pm when I get in from work. I mean, *who* would do that?**
So I need your help yet again with my latest dating dilemma. Do I continue in this state of cyber-bliss? Or does one of us have to get on a plane and ruin everything?
Do you only truly know someone when you’ve smelt them?
*In Real Life #digispeak
**Me