Good Lifestyle

If you told me a week ago a week ago, I would tell my yoga instructor, via zoom, which I had to "run" from our class online because I was late to avirtual meeting eventI would have said that you had seen too many dystopic films. But that's where we are. New York City-where I live - I'm notshelter However, but large gatherings have been canceled, shops and restaurants have existed, and we were all invited tokeep social distance And stay at home for a predictable future.

When you can not leave your home, it puts a serious shock absorber on your ability to socialize and with it, your meeting life. Of course, it's not the biggest concern ofA global pandemic. But human interactions playA major role in our mental health. Enter virtual encounters, permission of the dating companyHere Now (formerly known as Perchage).

"Humans are social creatures and, during a period ofphysical isolation, we have the impression of having our duty to help gather people, feel a sense of connection and follow their meetings, "saysLyndsey Wheeler, the co-founder of the company. "The experiences in person are the best way to connect with others and spark relationships, but we also realize that there are intentional means of designing virtual experiences that help people to connect more deeply than A simple normal FaceTime call. "

I first heard about here / now when I attended one of their "live dating mixers" in October. At the time, the company was trying to "Take off line dating"By getting peopleoff applications And back to the thrill of meeting someone in person. Now they have changed mission to organize "virtual encounters" because of coronavirus.

The concept is simple. A group shot of 10 singles connects for a zoom call at some point and receives questions such as "What do you like like a child?" "What is your superpower?" And "what special feature your house would she have?" Then, the dates are twinned with each single comrade to discuss questions one on one for a few minutes. When it's time to return to the main session, a message appears by saying that the files have 60 seconds to discuss. (One of my "dates" and I blocked that he seemed to have a warning that the computer was on the point of self-destruct.)

Back to the main session, we briefly recovered the strengths while the dance music played in the background. At first he felt a little bizarre of laughter and Nsync at Nsync at an hour like this, but again, why not? Practice good hygiene and good distancingSlow the propagation of coronavirusbut be negative and miserable does not do it.

Of course, a "virtual encounter event" can not reproduce the chemistry to react to the smell of someone or the romance of the locking eyes or the hand almost touching. But he has its own rise. For once, you can see what you actually look like on the date. Of course, I optimized the lighting and angle of my physical appearance. (I could not help but note that I should really follow the advice of my doctor and get vitamins B-12 because the skin under my eyes looked like crater.) And seeing you in the corner of your screen Can really make you more interesting from some of your hand gestures and your body languages. (Provides that the face of the exaggerated frontofit I do is not as cute as I thought.) Side note: If you are brave, you should try to eat during the virtual encounter. It's a real verification of reality.

As with people in person from here / now, at the end of the virtual dating event, singles get a private investigation that is sent to them in which they can indicate if they have lived with a person on a level "Romantic" or "friendly", and if that person feels the same way, they are matched and can prevail. Even if I did not necessarily feel a "spark" with anyone, it was really nice to connect to foreigners, to feel a fellowship in these uncertain moments. The organizers urged us not to discuss quarantine or pandemic, but it was a difficult subject to avoid. But even when he came, we managed to keep the light. Frankly, it made it feel like we were all in this set and everything was going to go.

"Quarantine is a chance for singles to try a different type of dating that requires spending more time getting to know each other on a deeper emotional level before jumping to something physics," said Wheeler. "At the end of that, we could see that people actually incorporate a more constant approach in their normal meeting life."

Wheeler stated that these virtual encounters are in high demand, which makes sense. People seek ways to stay connected, like the newNetflixExtension that allows you to group the discussion while watching a show or a movie on Netflix in synchronization with your friends and family.

Perhaps the opportunity to socialize in person has been removed from us, we realize how important it is. Maybe we're going to be people who tend to sit in the same room, do not interact to be people who are not sitting in the same room together but interact.

One thing is certain: I started my day off anxious and lonely And - between the dating event and my yoga class online, I went to bed feel blooming and eager to be alone. At the time of quarantine, it is in itself one thing to celebrate.