(Not So) Missed Connections - Romantic Encounters Of The Grad Kind

Picture this: You're driving down a dark street late at night, you're pretty tired, you're worn out, and you see a red stoplight coming up so you start slowing down. You stop and wait until you can start driving again. Bored as you are, you glance over at the individual sitting in the driver's seat of the car beside yours. Lo and behold, your eyes widen when you notice that the driver is the most incredible, beautiful, stunning, divine, exquisite creature (guy or girl) you've ever laid your eyes on. Wow. (Insert Joey Tribbiani-esque voice here): How you doing? But before you know it, the stoplights change, and said beautiful creature drives off, never to be seen again.

Has this ever happened to you? It never happens to me. When I glance over at the drivers beside me, I'm usually scowled at by an elderly woman disapproving of my speeding tendencies (I'm not an aggressive Asian driver, really) or a creepy old man grinning at me to the point where I'm uncomfortable (obviously I speed off as fast as I can! Ahhh!).

But, friends, these things do happen sometimes. And as I drove Vania and I home a few weeks ago, we noticed a very nice Cadillac driving beside us. When we reached the stoplight, we glanced over and spotted the CUTEST PUPPY WE'VE EVER SEEN hanging out the driver's seat. Seriously, so cute. And I'm a cat person. We kept waving at the cute puppy... until we noticed puppy's very cute (Read: Insanely Hot) owner. And so as we kept driving for the next few blocks, Cute-Dog-Loving-Cadillac-Driving Boy and I kept hitting the same stoplights. We fangirled over that puppy (owner) while we patiently waited for each of those sets of lights to turn green. Oh, Vania. What an entertaining ride home! And the epitome of something you'd find on Craigslist Missed Connections (which my friends and I hilariously read sometimes, just for the entertainment).

Do we really know anyone who has met their significant other driving down the street? None that I know of! But when it comes down to it, the concept of finding one's significant other is interesting, particularly as we've reached an age where half our friends are either engaged, in a serious relationship, or are already married. We've reached the age as 20-somethings where we start receiving pointed questions from family, friends, and relatives regarding the next ten years of our lives: engagement, marriage, children, the whole scary nine yards. Wow. How did time fly by so fast? How did we grow up so fast?

I know many people often wonder about who they will end up with. Craigslist Missed Connections alone show us a number of people, from various age groups and all walks of life, searching for that Hollywood-turned-reality romance. Relationships, to be frank, aren't an afterthought to any of us. Humans instinctively treat relationships as an important part of life; they are a centrifugal force to which we plan our lives and efforts around.

And so as a result, I'm sure you've often wondered how you'll meet your significant other (don't lie, I know you have!). On a GO train? In class? Through a friend? At the library? If it floats your boat, Craigslists' Missed Connections? How will you meet the person you'll eventually end up with? And how, pray tell, will you know? I've noticed, from observing many individuals my age, that so much effort is placed on contemplating these questions, on the search for potential lifelong relationships and significant others. At our age, it's a reality I'm sure many reading this have thought about.

However, let this blog post serve to assure you that you shouldn't worry about the unknown years ahead and the individuals you have yet to meet. If there's anything we can learn from the new phases of life we will soon begin (moving to new cities, starting Master's degrees, starting new jobs), I think we can all agree that we've felt time going by faster than usual. Time. It just seems to be going by too fast. Time that shouldn't be spent dwelling on things that could be, should be, or should have been. Time that can rather be spent enjoying friends, family, moments, and experiences that will, years from now, be just a fond memory.

Let this blog post serve as encouragement and assurance to those who wonder, to those who shake their heads in annoyance at the thought of the unknown years ahead. To those who nurse broken hearts, wounded egos, unrequited souls. To those who have experienced misplaced committment. Friends, the search may seem futile now. But let me assure you that time spent actively searching and alternatively worrying won't always produce the results you desire. In the meantime, we have so much to do, so much of the world to see until we finally find this reality.

Friends, we may feel like we're getting old, but we are actually still so very very young. Enjoying one's years as an adult-but-not-quite-an-adult is just an important as the later years of life. So until then, enjoy the fleeting moments and days of your twenties.

Let this blog post serve to assure you that one day, you will indeed find that individual who will forever change your life. One day, someday soon. And when you finally do, it will be far from a "missed connection." On the contrary, it will be a connection you've waited patiently for, within the context of memorable experiences. On the contrary, it will be a connection you'll have and treasure for the rest of your life.

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson