The Part

People have often described me by the oh so cliché phrase as “late bloomer”. And I suppose that is true if you buy into the idea that certain life events must happen at very specific ages (I of course don’t prescribe to this way of thinking, which is why, I’m guessing, I have earned the illustrious late blooming title)

It’s true I have done very little dating in my not-so-very-short-anymore life. I just never seemed to get around to it.  But lately I have been testing the waters with the activity that for so many others my age is old hat. 

I also happen to be job searching at the moment so that means that the dreaded interviews are also taking place.

So because these two things are happening in my life simultaneously I can’t help but draw some comparisons.

Dating and job interviews are both pretty much the same thing! Both can feel like completely ridiculous exercises of self humiliation. In both cases you are trying to project the best most confident version of yourself without showing any of your flaws. You are never your most authentic self in either case. I mean ok, I don’t go in and phony it up, cause after all I would be terrible at that. I am often so bad at hiding my true colors that it bites me in the butt. Who I present is me but it's just a much more polished, smiley- er version of me. One who is not riddled with neuroses and self-doubt. I play the part.

We all play the part. We play the part because we want the job or that that second date. We want the other person leaving thinking “wow I need a person like that in my universe”. In both situations you need to find the right balance of “why yes I am interested” and “why no, I am not so interested that I reek of desperation”

I don’t know, all I can say is I hope I get a job soon. 

As for the dating thing, it is what it is. I will treat it like I do many of the things in my life. A big social experiment.