Austere Lifestyle
(?)Community Member
- Posted: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 01:52:12 +0000
Apparently aromantic is a thing? I had no idea until recently! I wish I had heard of it sooner!
I love feeling close to people and making memories with them, but the thought of a romantic relationship just doesn't appeal to me. It never has. I always thought this was because I've had depression and anxiety and a pessimistic attitude towards life, but even when I'm happy and calm, I still have no interest in dating.
I'd always thought romantic relationships were just glorified sexual attraction; I couldn't understand why people put so much importance on them. I have no interest in marriage or having children.
In college I had a sexual partner. We weren't dating; it was a sexual relationship (we'd been friends for a while first.) I liked this better than dating, because it was no pressure, and I didn't have to meet his friends or his parents or anything like that. This ended in 2012 (I decided I didn't want to have sex anymore b/c of the various risks).
This past summer I dated someone briefly. He is a very sweet person, and I love him, but I didn't think I would ever be "in love" with him. He would demonstrate romantic gestures and it all just made me really uncomfortable and I couldn't figure out why. We have a lot in common and get along well; I just didn't want to have a relationship. We ended it by mutual agreement, and I miss him, but only because I miss the friendship aspects and our intellectual conversations.
Soooo yeah. Does this sound like I'm aromantic? Has anyone else had similar experiences?
I love feeling close to people and making memories with them, but the thought of a romantic relationship just doesn't appeal to me. It never has. I always thought this was because I've had depression and anxiety and a pessimistic attitude towards life, but even when I'm happy and calm, I still have no interest in dating.
I'd always thought romantic relationships were just glorified sexual attraction; I couldn't understand why people put so much importance on them. I have no interest in marriage or having children.
In college I had a sexual partner. We weren't dating; it was a sexual relationship (we'd been friends for a while first.) I liked this better than dating, because it was no pressure, and I didn't have to meet his friends or his parents or anything like that. This ended in 2012 (I decided I didn't want to have sex anymore b/c of the various risks).
This past summer I dated someone briefly. He is a very sweet person, and I love him, but I didn't think I would ever be "in love" with him. He would demonstrate romantic gestures and it all just made me really uncomfortable and I couldn't figure out why. We have a lot in common and get along well; I just didn't want to have a relationship. We ended it by mutual agreement, and I miss him, but only because I miss the friendship aspects and our intellectual conversations.
Soooo yeah. Does this sound like I'm aromantic? Has anyone else had similar experiences?