Here is Part 2 of a 3 part article written by guest writer and Co-Active Coach
Steve Grubich
Part 1 of the article was written for the February Divorce Post Ezine
If you did not yet receve your copy, please add your name to the free Newsletter subscription request on my homepage and I will forward you the back copy.
Getting to Know Each Other Relationship Recipe: Getting Back Out There Bistro
About 6-9 months after the decoupling of my marriage started, getting out there started to take root. Dating and finding a partner weren’t the focus or even an interest here. I took the café encounters seriously as a sign that I wasn’t ready for another relationship yet and decided to live through the intense bouts of loneliness the best I could. Getting out there meant exploring new interests, activities, experiences and friendships without seeking any intimate relationships with women.
As interests emerged, I explored them. One activity led to another and another. This exploratory phase that continues to this day started with salsa dance lessons. Learning to partner dance is not only fun but, for me, an analogy for healthy relationships. The desire to go dancing with a group led to a local gold mine of group activities – the website meetup.com. I found a group that was going salsa dancing so I joined the group and went dancing with them. I learned that there are 500+ groups in Edmonton that use meetup.com to facilitate their group outings. I joined several groups and through their outings got introduced to a city with a diverse and rich cultural scene…to my surprise, that city was our very own Edmonton!!
Since spring 2012, a few of my exploratory activity adventures have become my main interests. Reading books at my favourite cafes still happens occasionally. Partner dancing lessons and outings and performing arts outings with the Edmonton TheatreGoers Club occupy much of my personal interest fun time. The TheatreGoers Club is one of the groups I mentioned on the meetup.com website. I’ve become very involved with this group over the last 18 months or so partly because the live theatre scene in Edmonton is so diverse and interesting but, more importantly because I’ve found a group of people that share my enthusiasm to explore and experience the performing arts in our fair city. The loneliness dragon, who was just a few years ago, a Godzilla-like giant is now the size of a lizard in an aquarium bowl on the mantle!
The life lesson here – this is a new phase of life. If you have unexplored interests, explore them! Don’t have anything specific in mind. You might do a self-imposed “try new things’ period. 3-6 months exploring different groups and activities on meetup.com is one idea.
Part 3 of this 3 part article written by guest writer and Co-Active Coach
Steve Grubich
will be posted on this BLOG tomorrow, Friday, February 14th.
Please come back and visit
Getting to Know Each Other Relationship Recipe: Getting Back Out There Bistro for the last edition,
“Dating” with practical tips included!
