Rejuvenation

Lately, I think I've been pretty adventurous with the whole CL thing. I've been making new contacts quite a bit and met people that I would never have met otherwise. I've met a handful of really good guys and have had some great conversations. Of course, some of those are going to fall by the wayside... I mean, I think I might have gotten a bit of overkill with it. The volume of responses to an ad posted by a woman is almost surreal sometimes. I try to respond to them all if they sound nice and normal, but that takes a good bit of work. Even so, I'm working on forging and maintaining those connections. Tonight I met a guy for coffee/snacks down in Arlington. He's a nice, normal guy who is intelligent, funny, and mature for his 31 years of age. I've been trading emails with him for a couple of weeks. He hates the macho culture that society tries to foist onto men. I mean, he hates Maxim magazine. Huh?!? What guy hates that?? Well, he does. It's infantile (true) and belittles men. I suppose it does, through the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Yes, he likes women and he's not metrosexual by any stretch of the imagination. But he's a step up intellectually and emotionally, and that's plain cool. I see us being pretty good friends. I might join his harem (my term) of women that he goes dancing (!) with. He likes to call them his girls. He's gregarious and open, and I can appreciate that. He's even open to going ballroom dancing with me on Fridays! How cool is that? And then there is another person that I talked to last night. He was one of the folks that responded to my clarion call to save me from boredom late at night while holed up at home with my parents. We can relate on many levels. He and I have comic books in common, for one thing. Now how often is THAT likely to happen? Granted, it's far more rare to find a woman that is familiar with comics... but for two comic fans to find each other out of nowhere over CL? It's divine providence, I tell you! I had a lot of fun talking to him and look forward to more conversation. I worry a little about not being able to maintain all these new connections. Quality connections take time, and each individual that I choose to contact deserves my best. I hope I can deliver. I don't like to hurt people or shun them. But at the same time, interest is a two-way street and a little effort on their part will be happily reciprocated. But all in all, I find that engaging these people is a rejuvenating force for me. I've never been a social butterfly. I've always been more of a social caterpillar! But this chrysalis is trying to grow and expand. In some ways going out and meeting total strangers is risky, for the obvious safety reasons. You have to use your judgment, of course, and intuition to make sure they fall well within the bounds of "normal." But the truth is that while there are predators and freaks on the internet, most people are just like you and me - normal, looking for a little friendly human contact. Only some of us are more willing to take that to the next level. I suppose it's Yet Another Dichotomy; I have a side that is spontaneous and adventurous, thrill-seeking to some degree and a closet exhibitionist. And yet I'm very constrained by my rules, my morals, my standards, my limits of what I consider acceptable. Somewhere in there, the logic lines up. I suppose that I'm fairly tame compared to other people. No supposing... I AM tame compared to others. Everything in moderation, I suppose; and that's a good thing.