4.17.14

Breakfast - two blueberry poptarts
Lunch - turkey and cheese sandwich (and some Keeblers chocolate chip peanut butter cookies)
Dinner - Baked potato soup


Why you should delete Tinder.

Yes, I'm guilty, once upon a time I Tindered. It was unfortunately back in summer of 2013 before it got legit. Back then the talent was pretty slim (or not), if ya know what I mean. But the novelty of it all was still cool and fun. Heck, it was almost like a game. How many matches can I get? How many terrible pickup lines can I try? If I immediately call a girl "Sugar Bear" will she like it, or will she block me? Yes, I enjoyed it for a couple of weeks.

But then I realized something. People suck.

You would think Tinder would be an extrovert's dream. Here's this amazing thing where you can meet and connect with as many people as you want. Just swipe left or swipe right. But once you start matching with girls and talking with them, you realize that communication is a lost art form. Nobody knows how to get to know each other anymore. Like, ask me a stinking question or something. Anything. What's my favorite color? Do I sing in the shower? Am I still afraid of the dark? Anything but a one-sided conversation. Technology has just ruined it all. This self-serving, instantly-gratifying reality we've created has consequently destroyed our ability to invest in real, tangible relationships. Don't like this person and what they have going on? Just swipe left.

We've created a cyber reality where people can hide behind profiles, instagram photos and tweets. And this anonymity gives us power that we wouldn't normally have. Power to choose what we allow into our reality and what we erase from it. Hide the bad, keep the good.

"Show me your perfect life" - my tongue-in-cheek mindset anytime I log into social media.

But what happens when our cyber reality collides with reality reality?

This is why I deleted Tinder. I remember the first time I unintentionally ran into a Tinder match in public. It was like that scene in Mean Girls where the high schoolers are playing the roles of zoo animals in the mall. We never even officially acknowledged each other's presence, but we traded long awkward stares from across the room for a couple hours. So uncomfortable. No. Just no. I deleted the app right then.

I love this town. I someday plan on owning it here. And every morning that I wake up is a new opportunity to take a step closer in that direction. On my path, on my journey to owning it, the last thing I want to be doing is trading uncomfortable stares from across the room with a random person whose first impression of me came from a hot or not app. No way am I letting something like that get in my way of maximizing my potential; of owning this town.

I want to control my own first impression. And you should too. Delete your Tinder.