Sunday 17 September 2017

How dating apps made sex easy to get but love hard to find

"Once upon a time in a far away kingdom lived a beautiful princess. One day when she was out on a stroll in the woods, she met a handsome prince. The prince fell in love with the princess and they lived happily ever after." While this picture perfect story might be limited to the fairy tales, but not so long ago things in real life used to be as simple (if not more).

People used to meet at weddings and parties, chat a little to get to know each other over coffee meetings and date each other to ultimately walk down the aisle. Life was simple before technology stepped up its ante and ruined everything by its ease of availability.

Yes, we have the world full of options available today. Yes, we don't need a pundit or a talking parrot to tell us when will we meet our soulmate. Yes, life has become a wonderful adventure thanks to the plethora of information available on the Internet.

But in the matters of heart what's really important-- options or the choice?

Call me old school, call me a buzzkill, but I still believe that when it comes to love and romance, old school is the best way to go. Stealing smiles in the hallways of your college (or your workplace), sharing a meal, late night conversations about dreams and aspirations, random 'I love You' messages, all of these might sound a bit too cheesy to some, but isn't that what we all are looking for? Someone to love? Someone to share our lives with?

Dating apps like Tinder, Happn, and Frivil have given us the luxury and liberty to meet people based on our likes and dislikes. While this might be comforting at a level, there is a downside to it as well.

People have stopped investing their time and energies in their relationships because they know that their next relation is just a click away.

They change relationships like they change clothes. There's always a thought, that if their present relationship doesn't work out, there's always a next. As a result, people have stopped sharing their life moments with their friends and partners, people have stopped opening up to others, people have stopped being themselves and loneliness has crept it.

These dating apps, on one hand, have empowered us, but on the other hand, they have created the world full of fake smiles, un-send text messages, and insecurities, leaving behind a sea of sadness that no one knows how to deal with.

We all wear masks that protect us from the pain inflicted by the ones we love. But dating apps today have turned this temporary state into a state of permanent hibernation, wherein it takes a tsunami of emotionally charged events to jolt us out of our limbo. It's true that as humans it's our natural response to run away from any event that might hurt us both physically and emotionally.

But if we take a deeper look at it, isn't this emotional hibernation doing more damage than good?

Everyone has a different mechanism to deal with the pain and it's ok to shut down at times. But it's not ok to give up and it's definitely not ok to live alone.

Take a risk and keep trying. Tinder or no, it's your life and you have to make it Happn!