Speed Dating at NYCC (Comic-Con)

Yes.  That is a actually a thing.

For those of you who don't know, Comic-Con is described as a fan convention dedicated to comics, anime, graphic novels, video games, movies, etc.  The man on the street, however, would describe Comic-Con as a place where socially inept geeks, nerds and weirdos get dressed up, gather in one big convention arena and geek out over their nerdy persuits.  

I was among those geeks, nerds and weirdos.

Once we were all seated inside and were going on our geeky first dates, I realized something.  I realized something about this weirdo singles convention was different.  And not just because Batman was on a date with Sailor Moon.  I just realized it was different because this was actually really awesome.

Now, I had gone to a few speed dating/singles events before.  One in Hoboken and two in New York.  I had literally gone on at least 3 speed dates  where the guys bluntly told me "I make a lot of money".  I can't blame them for that.  Single guys have to highlight what they think is their best sellable quality in a few minutes.  But that weird showiness is exactly what makes speed dating really unenjoyable for me.  

But as I said, Comic-Con speed dating was different.  I slowly started to figure out why.  The acne-ridden and the braces-bearing were alive and talking with passion and excitement about the things they loved... they were there discussing which super hero could kick who's ass and the video game secrets they themselves discovered without looking up cheats.  They were just there, being themselves, loving who they were at that moment.  Their energy became a light that engulfed the room.  And it was amazing.

I learned a lot from that day.  Perhaps the most important thing was this:  Maybe we are the most beautiful/attractive when we are showing people who we really are and when we live our lives with excitement.