coupleconnect for singles
|
|
coupleconnect for singles |
more
about the author
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “To Meet Your Partner, Widen Your Net” Welcome to the new FREE coupleconnect newsletter for singles who are looking for that special life partner. The author, Debra Munn, is a writer on relationship issues and the creator of coupleconnect, a deck of 55 cards with questions to inspire better, more meaningful communication between partners. In 1995, Debra, a native Texan, moved to the UK following the end of her 16-year marriage. In 1996 she met her partner, Mick Henry, and in 1999 they were married. The newsletter is intended to offer support and encouragement to singles, as well as tips on how to find the right partner. Please contact Debra with your comments, questions, or suggestions at Debra@coupleconnect.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLEASE LET ME HEAR FROM YOU The aim of this newsletter is to encourage and provide useful tips for singles as they attempt to find their potential life partners. In addition to using my own articles, I will include pieces from guest columnists from time to time, and I also want to hear from YOU, the readers, so we can all get to know each other better. Is there a special subject you’d like to discuss? A special point of view you’d like to express? What about a pet peeve or concern you’d like to air about dating or the single life? Please share it with all of us at Debra@coupleconnect.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you enjoy this coupleconnect newsletter, I would be delighted for you to copy and send it on to all your friends, family members, and colleagues who are interested in finding their life partners — that’s the way we grow and expand. Just make sure to make no changes, additions, or deletions, including the contact information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TO MEET YOUR PARTNER, WIDEN YOUR NET Are you so frustrated in your search for a partner that you’re beginning to agree with the cynics that all the good ones are already taken? There’s no one at work who really appeals to you, and the dates your family and friends have fixed you up with have only caused you to view lifelong celibacy in a new, more attractive light. You’ve joined organizations and taken special interest classes only to find that your Mr. Right evidently does not share your passion for the Egyptian pyramids, and Ms. Right apparently couldn’t care less about Thai cooking! Perhaps you’ve even become an habitue of pubs and bars (where all the available singles are supposed to hang out, right?), but all you get for your trouble are hangovers and come-on lines that insult your intelligence. What do you do now? Perhaps my own story will spur you on to try something new, something you might never have considered before. It’s a bit of synchronicity, in fact, that this newsletter is coming out today, as the first of November is a very special anniversary for me. It was exactly six years ago, on November 1, 1996, that I met Mick, the wonderful man who was to become my best friend, husband and life partner. Finding Mick was one of the best things that ever happened to me, and he has made my life happier, richer, and fuller in every way. But if I hadn’t responded to his personal ad in “Dateline” magazine, we probably never would have met, in spite of the fact that we lived in the same city. That was Brighton, on the south coast of England, where we still live today. Born in Texas, I had been a true Anglophile ever since my first trip to England in 1980 with my ex-husband. He and I had travelled to the UK nearly every year after that, and when in 1995 we decided to end our 16-year marriage, I moved to Brighton to make England my permanent home. Thrilled at having moved to England at last, I was nevertheless very lonely, and I wanted to find a new partner more than anything. But as a self-employed writer and editor working from my newly rented flat, I found it difficult to meet people, male OR female, in the course of my daily life. I had a doomed-from-the-start relationship with a much younger man I met while researching a magazine article, and when that ended after a few months, leaving me devastated, I renewed my determination to get back into the dating swing of things and find someone more suitable. All this time, I was going out with English friends I’d met during my previous travels. I also joined organizations and took classes in subjects I found fascinating. I made plenty of acquaintances and new friends, but the majority of them were women, or men already in relationships. The truth was that I was meeting practically no eligible men at all — at least not any that I wanted to go out with. Years before all this, when I was still married, I’d seen a television program about dating agencies, and I’d thought that if I ever found myself single again, I wouldn’t hesitate to join one. It seemed such a good idea — and it was! As soon as I joined Dateline, I sensed that special little “click” inside that told me I was doing the right thing. Almost overnight I was in contact with all sorts of men. I wrote to some of them, had telephone contact with others, and actually went out on dates with around 30 of them over the next few months. What worked even better for me, though, was taking advantage of “Dateline” magazine’s personals column to place my own ad, to which I received almost 40 replies, a good number from men I thought to be likely prospects. There were naturally a few who made me think seriously that getting a dog would be a preferable alternative, but a sizable number of those I went out with were attractive, intelligent, interesting human beings — many of them divorced just as I was, and equally serious about finding the right person. I had one or two short-lived relationships as a result, but even after those ended, I was still convinced that less conventional ways of meeting a partner were the way to go. That’s when I found Mick’s ad in “Dateline” and wrote to him, and the rest, as they say, is history. I never accepted for a moment the cynical and just plain wrong idea that dating agencies and personal ads were for desperate, unattractive people who couldn’t get a date any other way. This had certainly never been my problem, and neither had it been for the great majority of my new acquaintances. All of us simply had lifestyles that didn’t permit us to meet many new people, at least not the kind we were looking for. Dating agencies and personal ads were simply a brilliant way of widening the circle of our acquaintance to include people we most likely never would have met otherwise, people with whom we had the right things in common. Doesn’t this approach make a lot of sense? If you’re not meeting the love of your life doing whatever it is you’re doing now, isn’t it time to broaden your scope and cast your net further afield? If you’re still not convinced, in next month’s newsletter I’ll explain more about why dating agencies and personal ads, if used wisely, just may be the most practical and logical — not to mention exciting and adventurous way — to meet new partners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Debra Munn |
|
||
|
Copyright 2005 coupleconnect
|