As I sat and rewatched Parks and Recreation for the fifth time, something struck me. Anne Perkins, played by Rashida Jones, decided to only date herself after a few unsuccessful romantic relationships. She would go on dates with herself and order two entrees: one meal that she would normally have and one meal that she is scared to try. After watching this episode, I decided to date myself for a week. Here’s what happened.
On Monday, I decided to have a meditation date. I always wake up at 7:45 AM to have breakfast and get ready for the day. I don’t actually leave my bed until 8:00 AM because for fifteen minutes I am on every one of my social media accounts. I like to check every notification before I really wake up. However, on this day I decided to meditate for ten minutes. I used the ‘Calm’ app, and I chose the “Forgiving Oneself” meditation practice. At first, it felt weird to meditate sitting on my bed with my roommate in the room, but slowly I began to ease my mind. I never meditate, so it was a great way to practice self-care.
On Tuesday, I had a movie date with myself. Not the type of Netflix movie that I usually have. I walked with my friend to Kroger and got a movie on Redbox. This seemed more special to me because these films are out way before Netflix, and I really had to put the effort into getting the movie rather than sitting down and finding a movie on Netflix.
On Wednesday, I decided to deep condition my hair and wear pajamas that made me feel good. Usually, if I can convince myself to just put my hair in a ponytail, I’ll do it. Therefore, I don’t take care of my hair for as long as I feel lazy, but this time I decided to treat my hair as good as I’ve been treating myself this week. I went to sleep with soft hair and satin clothes.
On Thursday, I had an interview for a summer internship. This was an odd date. I still want to add this to my list of dates, because applying for anything always involves seeing yourself. Talking about how perfect I am for an internship that I really want is a confidence booster, and since this reminds me of a form of self-care, I treated it as a date.
On Friday, I went on a triple date to the High Museum. It was me and four other friends. We all treated ourselves to the therapy of standing among art and drawing from a live model in the middle for four Radcliffe Bailey artworks.
What I have learned from going on dates with myself was that they all really had something to do with self-care. These are all also things that I can do on a normal basis to treat myself, I just have to put a little more effort in taking care of me.