Introduction: The Challenge

I go all-out for Lent. People who know me tend to roll their eyes when I say something like that. They are well aware. I go all-out for practically everything. Playing in a volleyball tournament? Team theme, costumes, props and mini cheesecakes for everyone! Haven’t seen the girls in a while? Plan a fake wedding so we can all be bridesmaids together, book a hall, invite dates and drink and dance the night away (obviously). Ok, so those are extreme examples, but they happened.

For me, Lent is about taking stock of the things in my life that I take for granted. I (temporarily) sacrifice something to determine whether I can live without it, how I really feel about it, and whether having it or denying it makes me a better person.

In previous years I’ve given up bread, meat, cheese, tea, pop, alcohol, popcorn, chocolate and sex. I’ve also given up more abstract concepts like swearing, the word “like,” wearing pants, and complaining about my boss. For every lapse or failure, I donate money to the charity of my friend Derrick’s choosing. I sometimes open myself up for suggestions (which is where the “no pants” restriction came from) and this year I was issued a singular challenge.

A brief note of explanation: I am a single girl in my early (if they even count as) thirties. I have been unabashedly, uncompromisingly, simply single for most of my life. I believe there are many different kinds of single; well, I am the kind that doesn’t date. I once signed up for online dating in a show of support for a friend, but I gave up without much ado. It is a safe sort of existence, and if you keep as busy as I do, it is rarely a lonely one. But then along comes Lent, and in my quest for a new challenge, a friend suggested that I give up being single.

The thing about Lent is that it is temporary. Any finite thing that ends before I do is by definition survivable. So even if it is difficult or ridiculous (which I’m betting this will be), I can do it. This year, Lent runs for 40 days and nights over a 45 day span from March 1 to Good Friday. During this time, I will go on 40 dates. I will also write about them, because at the very least I am going to get some good stories out of this adventure.

My first ground rule is that Netflix and hot chocolate with my roommate does not count as a date. Oddly, it is also my second and third rule. Rule number four is that repeats are ok. If one of these dates merits a second outing, I’m all for it. My fifth rule is that dinner with a friend counts as a date if I use that time to become better acquainted with them, and not just fall back on familiarity. I will probably make up a few more as I go.

In order to round up dates, I’ve sent messages out to my friends asking them for set-ups and started working on an online dating profile. I’ve still got a few weeks to sort all that out, schedule some dates, and mentally prepare to give up my benignly single life for Lent.

Wish me luck!


Editor's note: All names have been altered. Mostly just for the fun of it.