People go on dates for two reasons – sex and marriage. But in reality, both of those options are often less exciting than what dating has to offer.

Finding something genuine in life is a rarity: honest communication; a chance to be yourself without being judged; an opportunity to break free from the system of limitations and run out into a wide-open meadow. All of this is contained in a good date. Dating is an exercise in creating reality.

Nowadays, for the first time ever, we can go out without expectations – and yet our expectations still weigh us down. In the past, encounters always served a specific practical purpose, and society wouldn’t accept anything else. But now we’re free from the rules, and we don’t have to wonder if there’s potential for marriage or if someone wants to sleep with us. Now we’re free to enjoy the happiness that comes from simply being together. Sharing yourself with another human being is a value in and of itself, and nothing else is needed.

The moment is self-sufficient. The fact that right now, at this very moment, you feel good in another person’s company is such a miracle that we don’t need to think about the future. It’s enough to allow ourselves to be happy together right now.

The other person is not a resource, but a work of art. If we go into a date with the idea that the other person is obligated to satisfy our needs and give us whatever we want, our dates will always be a failure. People aren’t resources. They’re human beings. And that’s exactly what a date is all about: being human together. Just being. Being beathing and natural which is our nature.

Dates can be a pretense, a ploy to get something out of the other person, or a desperate attempt to win someone’s favor so we won’t be alone. But they can also be genuine. A walk in a sudden spring downpour, where umbrellas aren’t needed. And everyone must decide for themselves which experience is more worthwhile.