Jane Saeman asked:


Many people on the dating scene today aren’t there to find “the one” person that they want to settle down with for the rest of their lives. Dating is now a standardized term used for social networking. Although the word implies that those who embark on a dating experience are doing so with romance in mind, the reality is that for most people who date people who have similar interests to their own are more likely to meet again socially with nothing more than a friendship in mind.

While this isn’t so good for anyone who is looking for romance with a view to a long-term monogamous relationship, it’s a positive change to the way that dating has been perceived in the past. At one time there was a lot of anxiety placed on anyone preparing for ‘a date’. They wanted to make a perfect first impression because they wanted their date to like them. They were looking for romance and hoped to find it.

In today’s dating scene, there may well be an underlying hope that one day the romance button may be clicked when meeting someone in a dating situation, but generally expectations are lower with most people looking to just enjoy themselves with someone that they think they have enough sufficient interests in common with to relax and have a little fun. This takes the pressure off the date and allows true personalities to shine rather than ones that are edged with a “best behavior” hang-up!

Western culture in particular is increasingly moving towards a trend of increased work ethic where single people, especially those following a career path, have little time for a serious relationship. The more informal dating rules allow people who are working towards their professional goals a release to get out socially (although some choose their dates selectively in order to use this as a networking opportunity as well as a social one!) and meet with people outside of their professional environment.
There are also an increasing number of people on the dating scene who have been seriously hurt in a previous relationship. They also are looking to connect with others, but they aren’t necessarily ready to entrust their feelings to anyone else at this time. Retired people who have lost their life partner are also among those who are initially looking for friendship rather than romance from a dating experience.

This doesn’t mean however that informal dating doesn’t lead to romance. There’s many a relationship that has started out as one thing and ended as something else. Any long-lasting permanent relationship needs a number of foundation stones that will hold it together during difficult times and one of these is friendship.

If you can find someone whom you like, and trust as a friend, and this relationship grows into a romantic one, then this relationship has a much stronger chance of surviving the long-haul than one that starts with a romantic spark which then fizzles out because there’s nothing else holding it together.

Rebecca Walker asked:


There is always a need for meeting new friends. Meeting new and interesting people can be exciting, and many people enjoy the social aspect that comes with meeting someone for the first time. Furthermore making friends is important psychologically, and it can allow us to unwind and relax and forget about our daily troubles during our leisure time. For companionship and social occasions, friends are crucial in ensuring we have a good time and truly enjoy the experience. Meeting friends online has become a great way to get in touch with people with similar interests, and it can lead to long term friendships lasting for a number of years. In this article, we will look at how best to make friends online, and why making friends over the Internet first can help cement relationships over the longer term.

The first thing you should do if you are looking to make friends or meet new people on the Internet is to locate a social networking website that fits with your requirements, which shouldn’t be a difficult task at all. The Internet is currently in the midst of a revolution whereby social networking sites and others with higher levels of interactivity are coming to the fore. This means that it is easier now than ever before to get involved in shaping the Internet, as it becomes more community focused and personal, and with social networking sites to fit every niche interest area, there are plenty of ways you can get your name out there and get meeting people you want to talk to.

Whether you’re looking for friendship, romance or a combination of the two, social networking platforms are the best way to find the people you want to meet. Simply by registering with a few basic details and establishing a profile, you can present a face to the world to allow anyone who wants to chat to contact you. Whether through instant messenger or some on site communications method, this allows you the chance to chat with people you meet online to build up a level of familiarity and a relationship, eventually helping to kick things off to a great start should you ever go a step further and meet in person.

As we’ve seen, the Internet is a great way of meeting new people and making new friends. By having the ability to talk online first, and working out the personality of the person before you go on to meet in person, you can help filter out those that will become close friends. Additionally, the ability to present yourself with your interests, and look for those with things in common with yourself allows you to find exactly the kind of friends you desire, to form a new social group or simply to talk to about your shared interest. By going online today, you can make new friends and meet interesting and exciting people, in as little as ten minutes with any of these proven ways of meeting others online.

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


The human aura is a three-dimensional energy field that surrounds the bodies of all living-beings and things. It extends in all directions, normally in an elliptical shape around the body. The healthier you are, the further the aura will extend out from the body.

There was an era when many people were able to see auras. In paintings of Spiritual leaders like Christ and the Buddha, we often see golden haloes around their heads. These haloes are nothing but their auras. The artists and painters of that age were able to see the auras, and hence reproduced them in their artwork.

Seeing the aura has got nothing “paranormal” about it. It is very normal, and one of easiest things to learn. With some time, practice and perseverance, anyone can see auras to some degree.

Why do we need to see auras ? : Learning to see the aura can reveal a lot about a person. The colors and intensity of the aura can tell us what the other person is thinking. Since the aura cannot be faked, the person’s true nature and intentions become clear as a mirror.

Someone has said that the aura is our spiritual signature. How true! A person with a radiant, clean aura is spiritually advanced and a person with a dark, murky aura is someone with unclear intentions. So if we know how to see and understand the aura, we know whom to befriend and whom to steer away from.

Also, by reading the aura it is possible to diagnose diseases even before symptoms become evident. If all doctors were trained to see the aura, it would be a boon to mankind.

How to read the Aura : Preparation : Find a place where you can practice undisturbed. Relax your mind by doing some deep-breathing exercises. Make sure the light in your room is neither too bright nor is it totally dark. A soft dim light is ideal. It is also important to have an open-minded attitude. The belief that you can see the aura will give you success faster.

Experiment 1 – See the aura around your hands : The background color, against which you will practice viewing the aura, should be preferably black, white or gray.

Hold one of your hands out in front of you and gently spread your fingers. Your palm can either be towards you or away from you. Take a few deep breaths and relax. Now, here is the trick… look at your hand but keep your focus on the background. That is, you do not focus on your hand, but you look beyond, and gaze at the background.

I repeat, relax your gaze and don’t try too hard. Don’t look at your hand. Look at the background beyond your hand. Try not to blink. In a few moments, you will see a fuzzy haze around the fingers of your hand. It will be a kind of a glow surrounding your hands. The color is generally white, silver or gray. Congratulations! You have just seen your aura!

This haze will disappear if you focus on your hands, and re-appear if you focus on the background. You will soon learn to hold your attention so that you can see the aura for a longer time.

Experiment 2 – See the aura around your body : With practice it will be very easy to look at the aura around your hands. Once you are good at it, you can try to look at the aura of your body. For this experiment, stand in front of a mirror. It is advisable that you are not wearing any clothes. Just like the previous experiment, have a dark or white background behind you.

Look at the mirror, and don’t focus on your body. Focus on the background. As you stare past your body, you will very quickly notice a fuzzy silver or gray outline surrounding your body. This is similar to the aura you saw around your hands. The aura will appear and disappear. You have to train your eyes not to revert to the normal focus. The trick is to stay de-focused. With practice you will see it quite prominently and it will stay for a longer time.

Experiment 3 : See the aura around other person’s body : When you are good at seeing your own aura, you can train yourself to look at other people’s aura. The process is similar to looking at your own aura, but this time, you will be not be requiring any mirrors. The person will stand in front of a background, and you look beyond the person, and focus on the background. De-focus your eyes so that you can see his aura.

For the advanced student : The layers of the aura : If you venture to get deeper into the subject of Aura-reading, you will find more interesting facts about the aura.

You will see that the aura is made up of several layers. The first layer, called the Physical aura, starts from just above the surface of the skin and tells you about the physical well being of the person. The second layer, called the Mental aura tells you about the mental state of the person. The third, called the Spiritual aura gives you information about the spiritual advancement of the subject. All the three layers overlap each other. Together, they might extend up to 4-5 feet from the human body.

The common colors of the aura : When you advance sufficiently, you will start to see and distinguish the various colors in the aura. The location of the color, the intensity, and the shade can tell a great deal about the subject. But it takes sufficient practice to understand and interpret the colors. Each color can tell you something about the subject.

The most common colors that can be seen are : Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Black, Pink, White, Silver.

Conclusion : When we were infants, we all could see auras. Most children up to 3-4 years’ of age see auras naturally. If a child doesn’t like the color of the aura of a person, they start crying! If they like it, they smile and readily go into the arms of the person. As we grew, the materialistic world enslaved us. We forgot to use our innate abilities to see the aura.

If we want to re-learn to see the aura, we need to give ourselves some time. We should not expect to become experts overnight. But have heart! Learning to see the aura is not a mystery. If you have the desire, and really want to see it, follow the experiments outlined above. And you will see your aura within a few minutes!

Allison Mac asked:


For most of us around the world we know April Fools day to be a day of pranks and trickery. It can be great fun to trick someone into believing something that isn’t true. James Randi however takes this one step further and what many may not know is that April Fools day is also the day that the Pigasus Award is announced.

The Pigasus Award has gone as far back as 1979 and is given annually by James Randi who is a noted skeptic of psychic energy. The award seeks to expose paranormal, parapsychological or psychic frauds that have been noted over the previous year. Appropriately given on the first of April, Randi awards the trophy to candidates chosen by himself from a list of nominees.

The trophy has been noted as being a stainless steel spoon bent in a curve and supported by a plastic base. It is flimsy at best and done so on purpose. There is also a plaque with a flying pig on it. Randi has stated sarcastically that the winners are published immediately after being announced on April Fools and are notified telepathically. He has also said that the famous Flying Pig trophies are sent via psychokinesis and if not received then it is probably due to their lack of paranormal talent.

Though the Pigasus awards are not done every year, there is a long list of recipients spanning from 1979 including famed psychics Nostradamus, John Edward, Sylvia Browne and Allison DuBois. The White House has also been a winner. For a complete list of other famous recipients visit Wikipedia and search Pigasus Award.

April Fools day may be a day of pranks and laughter for some. For James Randi however it is an opportunity to ridicule some poor unsuspecting person or institution that he feels has promoted fraudulent paranormal claims. To all of us who are believers in psychic energy – beware of the Pigasus award!  As an April Fools day joke from Randi, it may telepathically wind up on your doorstep.

Find out who the winners of the 2009 Pigasus Awards are and decide for yourself whether their psychic claims are real or a hoax.  A complete list of recipients can be found at YourPsychicResource.

Alex Vasilevski asked:


Shy people can find it challenging to make friends especially if they are amongst people they don’t know. Would you like to have the skills to start conversation and make friends with total strangers? It is not so difficult and frightening as you think as with little effort and practice you can start right now. Even better once you learn how it will become second nature to you, each time it will be easier, you will overcome shyness and making friends will become pleasure instead of torture.

The first thing to understand is that your shyness can end up being a real gift. Why? Because most of the time, people would rather talk than listen. It is human nature. So if you want to learn how to make friends all you have to know is how to get people to talk to you. Now this is easy once you understand what people like to talk about the most. Themselves.

That’s right, if you want to get people to talk to you just ask them about themselves. Now, of course you are going to run into people who are more private and may be reluctant to do this. In this case, find out what they are interested in and get them to talk about it. Ask how long they have been doing it; ask why they started and why they like it so much. Then just let them go and listen. Knowing how to make friends is all about being able to keep a good conversation going. Get someone to talk about what they are interested in and you’ll hardly have to talk at all. Pretty soon, they’ll wonder the same thing about you. By then it ought to be easy to have your turn.

That said, let me give you a few tips on how to make friends by starting these kinds of conversations and keeping them going:

· Practice talking to people you don’t know:

You can start small and work your way up. Make it a goal today to say hello to at least one person who you don’t know. Do this for one week and then begin to also ask them “How are you today?” Once this becomes a habit, pick two people a day until you are saying this to everyone who you can. You will be surprised at how easy it becomes after some practice.

· Compliment them or ask for their advice

These are both powerful ways to earn someone’s respect right away. Of course, you may not always be in a position to ask someone for advice. That’s when you go for the compliment. Don’t worry about what you are going to say next, the conversation may not go anywhere and that’s OK. The point is that if you get into the habit of doing this that you are going to run into some people who will help move the conversation along.

These simple steps will make a world of difference; just imagine where you could be one year from now! So go ahead and work on putting them into practice. Soon you will learn that knowing how to make friends is something even shy people can learn.

David Slone asked:


Ghosts are different things depending on who you ask. While 32% of Americans believe in ghosts, according to a 2005 Gallup poll, there is a divergence of opinion as to what constitutes a ghost. Parapsychologists are in favor of the term, apparition, because it’s purportedly more precise. An apparition is considered immaterial, but it can seem real and tangible. There are a variety of entities that qualify for the catch-all term, ghost, and here they are, in no particular order.

The spirit of a deceased person could make itself known in its former habitat, i.e., a home or office. In this case, the ghost is said to have a likeness to the deceased either in appearance, behavior, or vocal imitation. Of course, it may not be an imitation!

Other common uses of the term refer to angels or demons, or even as a synonym for a person’s immaterial spirit, whether or not they’re presenting themselves to others.

Ghosts are portrayed as having a semi-transparent, unspecific form, loosely resembling the person they once were. Their motives are helpful, ominous, or treacherous. Their motions are transient because they pop in and out. They’re often seen fleeing or scurrying. Of course, reports abound, and these are only a few examples of the alleged behavior of ghosts.

Ghost mythology is common in every ancient culture – from the Egyptians, to the Chinese, to the Europeans of the Middle Ages Ghosts were thought to be the disembodied soul of the person they once inhabited.

Parapsychologists study ghosts as part of their living. A parapsychologist seeks to understand paranormal phenomena. Paranormal phenomena is described as any phenomenon or occurrence that exceeds the bounds of what is possible, according to the established principles and laws of science.

Skeptics charge the controversy with several explanations for suspected ghost sightings. For instance, Scientists Richard Lord and Richard Wiseman explain that sound waves having frequencies less than 20 hertz are normally inaudible, nonetheless, they may cause someone to feel a presence or shift their mood to anxiety or dread. Carbon monoxide poisoning was cited as a cause for haunted houses as early as 1921 because it can cause hallucinations, ill feelings, and a sensation of dread as well.

Another condition, pareidolia, is a condition that causes someone to recognize human faces or forms in random patterns. That’s kind of like a case of seeing what you anticipate, hope for, or want to happen, instead of just seeing. Skeptics aside, extraordinary sightings and stories flow in from all corners of the world at large.

Let’s take a look and see whether or not ghosts might have a scant possibility of really existing.

The New Testament acknowledges the existence of demons, the real spiritual beings that tempt, lie, deceive, and physically harm humans. According to the Bible their intention is to turn people away from God, from the best interests of the human and what will make then happiest, and to try to cause humans to think that they’re smarter than the All mighty loving God. Jesus gave humans the power to cast out demons and walk over the enemy. We have a shield of protection through Christ’s blood. A study of the gospel and the historical teachings of Jesus as it relates to angels and demons is too important and is a separate area of study outside of ghosts.

But, before we begin, let’s move on to the ghost stories of the world.

The face of Martha Rendell, the only female to be executed at Fremantle, appears in the window of the church frequently. The face seems to be produced by ripples in the glass that reflect light in an abnormal way, but the resemblance is eerie.

In China, Tuen Mun Road in Hong Kong is apparently causing excessive death tolls due to “ghosts popping up in the middle of the road”. Drivers avert the apparitions by veering their cars quickly and end up crashing. Hundreds of people allege that this highway is haunted, and many claim to have lost complete control of their automobiles.

Traveling to England we find a case with some substantial evidence, no pun intended. London’s primary criminal court, the Old Bailey, has an uninvited guest at major trials. Judges, barristers, and policemen attest to this strange apparition.

Even Mount Everest has its ghost in resident, probably the ghost of climber, Andrew Irvine, who tried to reach the summit in 1924 with George Mallory, but disappeared on his journey upward. Two climbers in 1975 said that they occupied a snow hole with him, and other climbers have seen a ghost too.

Ireland has the Temple Michael, a quint church and castle positioned on the blackwater river, with a close proximity to Youghal, Co Cork. The place is not used, and it overlooks the blackwater river. Visitors and local inhabitants of the region claim to have heard shrieks, screams, lights in motion, static on cameras over the church grounds, twigs that break without explanation, and coffins that close and open of their own accord.

In Japan, the tomb of Masakado near Tokyo is said to be haunted by the ghost of Masakado. During the 1920’s, the Office for the Ministry of Finance was built on top of it. In 1926, the minister of finance and 10 staff members died of disease. The tomb was restored. After WWII, however, they attempted to construct over it again. The driver of the bulldozer died, however, when it overturned.

The most haunted abode in Scotland is the Close of Mary King in Edinburgh. It was built in the 1600s, and it contained hundreds of people during the plague of 1645 when they were quarantined. Voices, dogs, and a lady clad in black have all been recorded.

Several fables, stories, and accounts arise out of the United States. One of particular interest is the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. It used to house tuberculosis patients and people refer to it as the most haunted place ever. More than 60,000 unconfirmed deaths have been reported and the owners of the property, construction workers and maintenance staff, and paranormal investigators have claimed one can see unnatural lights and phantasms darting around the premises at night. The hallways and rooms are filled with appearances of ghosts.

It is clear that immaterial entities exist because Jesus cast these personal and evil beings out of people. They shrieked and screamed and cursed, and this was written about as an account of real events by the meticulous doctor and historian, Luke, in the gospel of Luke. Get protection from spirits through Jesus Christ. Whether or not they’re actual people or vicious demons, Jesus has all power in heaven and on earth, and it says this in Matthew 28:18.

Paranormal phenomena are alive and well because the physical world isn’t all there is.

Joel Owens asked:


Your house is your sanctuary. You live in it, spend most of your life in it and deem it as the only place in the world where you can truly be yourself. Like a castle to a king, your house is your domain. Your house is where you rule and conquer. But what if it turns out that there are other unseen creatures of the night roaming in your said dominion?

It is rather difficult to mark a line between a door being shut because of strong wind and a door slammed by ghostly spirits. Though random events such as this could already spell out ghost hauntings, true ghost hauntings are still rare occurrences. The fact that it is so rare might actually make you a bit paranoid whether the eerie sounds you’re hearing, figures you’re seeing and the windows suddenly closing are really signs that your house is being haunted by scary creatures of the night.

To help you ease that paranoia, I’ve listed some signs that determine whether your house is haunted. Read them and determine whether you have experience such.

1. Unexplained Noises

You are all alone, but you hear strange foot steps outside your room. Not only that, voices of children playing in the garden can be heard, as well. The weird thing about it is that when you looked outside, no one was in sight. The sound differs from time to time. Sometimes, you hear the sounds of chains clanking or a faint cry of a woman during the night. You can’t explain where these strange sounds come from, and most of all, they bring chills up and down your spine.

2. Furniture Being Moved

You placed your coffee table beside your favorite couch. For some strange reason you can’t wrap your head around, you would walk into the living room next morning to find the coffee table moved to a different spot. You thought someone in your family must have done it, so you pass it up and let the strange event go. Just when you think it’s over, you wake up one day and open your eyes to find pieces of furniture all over the place in random spots. Clearly, one of those creatures of the night wants to make its presence known.

3. Creepy Apparitions

You point the camera and click the button. The picture comes out perfectly with three of your friends smiling, but a blurry creature seems to be caught by your camera, as well. In another instance, you look into the mirror and see the reflection of a hazy image behind you making your knees tremble with fear. If this has happened more than twice in your house, consider the thought of seeking a paranormal expert’s help.

4. Strange Feeling of Being Watched

You don’t see anything strange or hear anything spooky, but you always feel like someone is watching for you. The thought is enough to send chills up and down your spine. This usually happens in a particular part of the house.

5. Animals’ Weird Behavior

Your pets suddenly act in a strange way. Your dogs bark at no one and have that scared look to their actions. According to paranormal experts, animals have a way of knowing and sensing whether there are evil creatures of the night co-habitating in your house.

These are just some of the signs of a haunted house. If you’re unlucky, stranger and more damaging events might occur in your domain. Unfortunately, not everyone is sensitive to these signs of abhorring ghost hauntings.

So what do you do when you have already deduced that your house is haunted? Don’t waste time and call a paranormal expert to appease the spirits in a more appropriate way. Do so immediately and don’t wait for the ghosts to be destructive. This might seem surreal, but it is a sure way to put to rest the creatures of the night wanting to dominate your house.

It’s now time for you to ask yourself, “Is my house haunted?”

Nick Sanders asked:


Most students study abroad with the intent of making new friends and immersing themselves in a new culture and new community. However, many students end up forming a group with other students from their home country and not making the most of the brilliant opportunity they have. The first thing to do when you decide to study abroad is to work on gaining self confidence, and read some news reports on the country you are going too. Give yourself some background knowledge and something to talk about. Then, make sure you know enough of the language to have conversations with others.

When you reach your destination country, remember that you are going to have to put effort into making friends. Local students may seem standoffish, but are probably just waiting for you to break the ice. The first group of students to start with is other international students studying with you. These are students in your situation, and will want to make friends too. You can make a variety of friends from different countries in this way, and find people to socialise with and practise the country’s language with.

Next, don’t presume that orientation seminars or ice breaker events are pointless, as they are there to help you make friends. Activities such as sticking your name to your head or talking about yourself for two minutes may seem daunting, but will help you make global friendships. Attend a few, and you’ll make many friends in a very easy way. Universities hold these events to encourage everyone to make friends, and they are usually tried and tested methods.

If you want to make friends with locals, you will then need to arrange social gatherings outside of university time. Make sure you are always safe and that somebody knows where you are; make sure you aren’t wandering alone, and take money and a map. Go to different surroundings, and see who you’ll meet there. You might meet friends in malls or clubs, or less obvious places such as coffee shops. Remember that as long as you are friendly and polite most people will respond positively to you, and try talking to different groups of people. Local teenagers will know the best places to hang out, but local adults will know where to get cheap or fresh food, and where student deals are available. However, make sure that you know the customs of the local area, and try not to offend anyone. Watch what you wear and say, and if you are somewhere with strong beliefs, then you should adhere to them. Cover yourself up if necessary, or take off your jewellery. If you meet a special someone, keep public displays to a minimum and research the local laws for your area. In some countries, kissing outside can gain you a caution! Your university should have information on the area if you need some, or try googling it. You will struggle to make friends if you don’t appear to respect the country’s boundaries.

Finally, there is nothing wrong with becoming friends with other people from your home country, but don’t limit yourself. While you will probably become best friends with someone who is at your Uni, you will miss out on a lot of the pleasures of being a student studying abroad if you don’t make the most of the social opportunities it gives you. Remember to use your language skills, take photos and make friends, and you’ll have a brilliant time.

Vikram kuamr asked:


It is quite often that many people find themselves losing touch with friends as their lives go in different directions.  Whether you have moved to a new city or have simply drifted apart from childhood friends, many people have found themselves in need of new friendships.  However, it is not that easy to make new friends.

When it comes to making friends, one cannot just walk down the street and introduce yourself to someone you deem to have lots in common to you.  It’s not that easy.  You can make friends at work or at school but it is ideal to meet people that have interests similar to yours.  In turn, you will have a better relationship as you can do the things you mutually like together. 

It is ideal to meet people that are a reflection of your own personality.  For example, if you are someone who likes to stay in and watch movies, it is not ideal to look for a friend who frequents the nightlife and goes out every other day of the week.  If you are a girly girl and likes to go to spas and get manis and pedis, it is better for you to search for someone who likes to do the same.

With the help of technology, it is now a lot easier to make new friends then it was 10 years ago.  With all the new social networking sites that are currently available on the internet, making friends has become a lot less difficult. 

However, you may want to find a site where all other members are also looking for friendship.  It is not ideal to go to a dating site or a regular social network and begin requesting friendship from its members.  You want to find a site that is catered specifically for people looking to make new friends.

It is now easy for women in particular to find friendship with other women online.  At a website called Chummychums, women can now create profiles detailing all aspects of their personality, upload photos and begin their journey of making friends.  They can browse profiles of women in their local area and filter friends out according to their interests.  Women have the capability of showing their musical preferences, showing how frequently they enjoy the nightlife, whether or not they have children, and much more. 

Here you will find other members looking for new buddies, just as you are.  This is very important.  Chummychums is also a platform for women to be able to interact and express themselves.  Women can participate in forums and discuss issues that are important to them.  They can also blog about themselves or any other topic they feel strongly about. 

Chummychums provides all the means necessary to make new friends.  Girl friends can contact each other via email messages, via chat rooms and even instant messenger.  We all recognize that we need friends to share special moments in our lives with.  On Chummychums, you will not have a difficult time making friends.

Jane Saeman asked:


Friends are not easy to find once you into a working environment. If you have childhood friends around that’s great, but many people move far away from where they grew up, and contact with those they used to confide in becomes increasingly difficult. Finding the time to meet new people, and then spend enough time to get to a level where you trust them enough to confide in isn’t easy, especially if you’re also looking for a partner and using your free time to date.

If you are someone who feels more comfortable with the opposite sex, then dating is a great way of making friends. There are very few people who date only one person and then commit to them for the rest of their lives. The usual scenario is that you date a number of people who have quite a lot of things in common with you, until you find the one that you really connect with on a deeper level. The fact that you have been on a personal, if not intimate, level with the people you date puts you in a good position to transition these once potential dates into friendships.

There’s a problem with this in that any future people you, or your ex date, go out with may not like the relationship and try to break it. This makes the friendship a little precarious, but as time passes, the bond of friendship and trust becomes one that both of you will be reluctant to break — both of you appreciating what you get from the platonic relationship — and so it becomes more secure. Even so, if you, or your friend, find a partner that they intend to make a permanent fixture in their lives your friendship together may have to be severed in order for that to happen.

Even if you’re not really interested in having a deeper relationship with someone, there’s nothing to stop you going out on casual dates. There are plenty of other people out there who enjoy having one-on-one time with another person without it having to lead to a “serious relationship”. You may get a reputation for being a habitual dater, but that’s just a label that someone who dates looking for a partner puts on it. There’s nothing wrong in using the dating scene as a social meeting arena! Make your intentions known up front and you’ll get to meet a number of people who have similar interests to your own, but aren’t going to expect anything other than friendship in return for the time spent together.

If a serious relationship isn’t what you’re looking for, but you would like to find a few more friends, trying some casual dating and you’ll meet some interesting people. You aren’t guaranteed to build a true friendship with any or all of them, but at the very least, you’ll have a good time exploring the possibility!