Archive for the ‘fantasy love’ Category

The Power of Moving On

Thursday, April 1st, 2010
The Power of Moving On
Each client with whom I work has one major obstacle in his life that is preventing him from finding love with a compatible partner.
It is incredibly important to figure out what this thing is- whether it is a fear of commitment, fear of vulnerability, another sort of issue he is having with himself, or in the case of today’s client, a very common ailment: an attachment to an old flame or an ex.
The problem with being attached to an ex is that until you cleanse yourself of this attachment and the remaining feelings, you are never going to be able to move on and
a) find someone who you really want to invest in, because you are still secretly invested in that ex, and b) invest in anyone new at all.
Also, the attachment to the ex- and perhaps the hope that you will one day be together again- can cause you to self-sabotage, ruining your chances with people who are suitable potential mates- and probably more so suitable mates than your ex (there is a reason why you are not with them).
I remember my relationship my junior year of college. I had met a guy who was everything I wanted on paper- smart, handsome, charming- and on top of it all, we got each other, senses of sarcasm building on each other’s like bananas on peanut butter.
But as much as I gave, I was constantly frustrated by Nate, who was always saying self-sabotaging obnoxious things, talking to me in a general condescending and often grandiose way, and was hesitant to turn the relationship into something serious.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know that although I cared deeply about him- and was very attracted to him- I wasn’t happy. It was like we were going through the motions of being together, but it was all just an act, nothing real there at all.
After a little while of seeing each other, we were sprawled on the couch on a lazy Sunday watching football, when it finally came out: He was still in love with Ashley.
He barely saw her anymore, he said, she was doing some kind of community service in South America, but yet whatever they had had still haunted him, still tied him in knots, and most importantly, kept him from opening himself up to me and to the potential of us ever really being in love.
This is not to say that I didn’t have my own issues that also contributed to the failure  of our relationship-  I was terrified of monogamy- but I was also hesitant to deal with my issues and open myself up to the possibility of love and true involvement when I could tell that it wasn’t an option for him. His feelings, and his heart, were somewhere else.
And so my client today had a similar problem today to Nate- an attachment to his ex that was still very much alive, complete with the hope that they would someday get back together.
So here’s the bad news, which I unfortunately didn’t recognize with Nate- I just continued being unhappy. If someone wants to be with you, THEY WILL BE WITH YOU! Don’t make excuses for them- if they are still maintaining contact with you, particularly if they are with someone else, they are taking advantage of you, wanting the comfort and security that you provide, and maybe the love that you still profess, as a security mechanism and an ego booster, or maybe they are still keeping you around just in case they need a booty call. Either way, it’s bad news bears.
Nate was on the right track in a physical sense- he had almost completely cut himself off from contact with Ashley, but not in an emotional sense- having obviously not explored the feelings that were still there that prevented him from moving on.
And so this is the challenge- to figure out what still keeps you tied to that ex, and to recognize the things about them, or about the relationship that simply didn’t work or weren’t right for you. Not now, and not ever. Say Sayonara.

Each client with whom I work has one major obstacle in his life that is preventing him from finding love with a compatible partner.

It is incredibly important to figure out what this thing is- whether it is a fear of commitment, fear of vulnerability, another sort of issue he is having with himself, or in the case of today’s client, a very common ailment: an attachment to an old flame or an ex.

The problem with being attached to an ex is that until you cleanse yourself of this attachment and the remaining feelings, you are never going to be able to move on and

a) Find someone who you really want to invest in, because you are still secretly invested in that ex, and b) invest in anyone new at all.

Also, the attachment to the ex- and perhaps the hope that you will one day be together again- can cause you to self-sabotage, ruining your chances with people who are suitable potential mates- and probably more so suitable mates than your ex (there is a reason why you are not with them).

I remember my relationship my junior year of college. I had met a guy who was everything I wanted on paper- smart, handsome, charming- and on top of it all, we got each other, senses of sarcasm building on each other’s like bananas on peanut butter.

But as much as I gave, I was constantly frustrated by Nate, who was always saying self-sabotaging obnoxious things, talking to me in a general condescending and often grandiose way, and was hesitant to turn the relationship into something serious.

I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know that although I cared deeply about him- and was very attracted to him- I wasn’t happy. It was like we were going through the motions of being together, but it was all just an act, nothing real there at all.

After a little while of seeing each other, we were sprawled on the couch on a lazy Sunday watching football, when it finally came out: He was still in love with Ashley.

He barely saw her anymore, he said, she was doing some kind of community service in South America, but yet whatever they had had still haunted him, still tied him in knots, and most importantly, kept him from opening himself up to me and to the potential of us ever really being in love.

This is not to say that I didn’t have my own issues that also contributed to the failure  of our relationship-  I was terrified of monogamy- but I was also hesitant to deal with my issues and open myself up to the possibility of love and true involvement when I could tell that it wasn’t an option for him. His feelings, and his heart, were somewhere else.

And so my client today had a similar problem today to Nate- an attachment to his ex that was still very much alive, complete with the hope that they would someday get back together.

So here’s the bad news, which I unfortunately didn’t recognize with Nate- I just continued being unhappy. If someone wants to be with you, THEY WILL BE WITH YOU! Don’t make excuses for them- if they are still maintaining contact with you, particularly if they are with someone else, they are taking advantage of you, wanting the comfort and security that you provide, and maybe the love that you still profess, as a security mechanism and an ego booster, or maybe they are still keeping you around just in case they need a booty call. Either way, it’s bad news bears.

Nate was on the right track in a physical sense- he had almost completely cut himself off from contact with Ashley, but not in an emotional sense- having obviously not explored the feelings that were still there that prevented him from moving on.

And so this is the challenge- to figure out what still keeps you tied to that ex, and to recognize the things about them, or about the relationship that simply didn’t work or weren’t right for you. Not now, and not ever. Say Sayonara.

Dating Coaching: Demystifying the Process

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Dating Coaching: Demystifying the Process
I’m about to start working with a private client, a man in his twenties. To many, the idea of being coached at “dating” is straight out of Hitched- socially awkward guys needing help from suave Will Smith in order to pick up girls.
However, just as Mr. Smith finds out in the film when he actually falls for someone, dating coaching is no longer about just picking up hot girls- and is no longer reserved for the socially awkward. Several of my male friends- who were also acclaimed characters in the book The Game- all left the pick-up community, finding that although it was fun, it was ultimately unfulfilling- that they wanted love and a sustainable relationship, not just a one-night stand. So even those men, the suavest pick-up artists in the world, needed some coaching to find what they really wanted- a sustainable relationship with someone amazing.
Because sustainable relationships create sustainable happiness.  And everyone wants to be happy, not just for a night or two, but for life.
So what is dating coaching about now? For my clients, it’s about self-exploration and consequent discovery- it’s about finding out how their behavior, past experiences, and emotional issues are keeping them from finding a sustainable relationship and happiness.
Once they are clued in to self-discovery, we embark on a quest to change those behaviors, patterns of thinking, and we come to terms with the past in order to feel comfortable- and confident- going forward into the world of women.
Then comes image- how are they presenting themselves? We work on dress, haircut, posture, eye contact, demeanor- all of the things that illustrate to a woman confidence and comfort with oneself.
After all, in an evolutionary sense, women are looking for providers and protectors- so although they seek sensitivity and emotional awareness as well- they ultimately want to know that a man could- and would- keep her safe and secure in a world of chaos and fluctuation. That’s why “nice guys” often lose out- because although they might be able to be in tune with a woman’s wants and needs, her most primary need is security, and they are unable to show that they can provide that right off of the bat.
Then we go through exercises to determine what kind of woman would really make the man happy. This involves going through priorities- what matters the most to a man in his “ideal” woman- talking about if those terms are realistic, and prioritizing the things that matter to him the most in a mate.
Often, men will have a list of “must haves” that is simply impossible to fulfill- no one, and I mean no one, will have every single qualification you have dreamed up in your hand as your shining bride. That’s why we have to pick those qualities, and qualifications, that really matter the most to him.
Then we embark into the “dating scene.“ I introduce my clients to the mechanisms that exist nowadays  to help romance ignite, explaining the pros and cons of each- from online dating to speed dating, to other sorts of activities that would put the client in contact with women who match the profile he has created for her.
These can include anything from twenties and thirties geared non-profit groups, to activity clubs, to classes, to events, etc. Then we evaluate which of those might contain the woman he is looking for, and we choose the one he is most comfortable embarking on to begin.  As he goes through that experience, I talk him through the process of whatever it is that he has chosen- how to integrate what he has learned into that real environment.
Sometimes this means going on-site with the client and literally coaching him through an event, fixing nervous or egregious behavior that has arisen and helping him to comprehend the scattered clues that most woman throw out upon first meeting them, waiting for the guy who can best pick them up and assemble them in the way that she expects.
And of course, just for fun and a little extra boost, I sometimes break out the stellar wing woman in me- using elementary tools of jealousy to make the client appear more attractive and desirable to other women, and also my knowledge of female psychology, in order to help my client open the conversation with the woman he finds appealing.
It’s not an easy or clean process- the men who really want to find an incredible woman must engage in this kind of self-discovery and image building in order to find her- and more importantly to keep her and satisfy her.
But again, finding this kind of relationship is what will make him happy for the long-term, and just as Will Smith deviated from being a clueless and emotionally insensitive- yet charming- fresh prince picking up babes on ABC, even he has morphed into this crucial process of struggle, self-discovery, and accomplishment, or rather, the pursuit of happiness.
The Expert in Seduction is so 1990s...

The "Expert en Seduction" is so 1990's...Au revoir, my friend

I’m about to start working with a private client, a successful and adorable man in his twenties. To many, the idea of being coached at “dating” is straight out of Hitched- socially awkward guys needing help from a suave pick-up artist in order to get hot girls.

However, just as Mr. Smith finds out in the film when he actually falls for someone- and his pick-up tools fail to impress her-, dating coaching is no longer about picking up hot girls- and is no longer reserved for the socially awkward. Several of my male friends- who were also acclaimed characters in the book The Game- all left the pick-up community, finding out that although it was fun, it was ultimately unfulfilling- that they wanted love and a sustainable relationship, not just a one-night stand. So even those masters in pick-up needed a new form of coaching, and this time, from a woman!

Because sustainable relationships create sustainable happiness.  And everyone wants to be happy, not just for a night or two, but for life.

So what is dating coaching about now? For my clients, it’s about self-exploration and consequent discovery; it’s about finding out how their behavior, past experiences, and emotional issues are keeping them from finding a sustainable relationship and happiness.

Once they are clued in to self-discovery, we embark on a quest to change those behaviors, patterns of thinking, and we come to terms with the past in order to feel comfortable- and confident- going forward into the world of women.

Then comes image- how are they presenting themselves? We work on dress, haircut, posture, eye contact, demeanor- all of the things that illustrate to a woman confidence and comfort with oneself.

After all, in an evolutionary sense, women are looking for providers and protectors- so although they seek sensitivity and emotional awareness as well- image and first impressions matter to her. Women ultimately want to know that a man could- and would- keep her safe and secure in a world of chaos and fluctuation. That’s why “nice guys” often lose out to alpha males:  although nice guys might be able to be in tune with a woman’s wants and needs, her most primary need is security, and many “nice guys” lack the image that illustrates confidence and this primary ability to protect and provide, while alpha males give that impression off right off the bat.

Then we go through exercises to determine what kind of woman would really make the man happy. This involves going through priorities- what matters the most to a man in his “ideal” woman- talking about if those terms are realistic, and prioritizing the things that matter to him the most in a mate. That way, he can understand that even if he finds a woman with only his top five “qualifications,” he is still a lucky guy and he should focus on what she has that he likes, as opposed to what she doesn’t have, or qualities that he dislikes.

Often, men will have a list of “must haves” which is simply impossible to fulfill- no one, and I mean no one, will have every single qualification you have dreamed up  to be present in your shining bride. That’s why a man has to choose the qualities  that are the most important to him.

Then we embark into the “dating scene.“ I introduce my clients to the mechanisms that exist nowadays  to help romance ignite, explaining the pros and cons of each: from online dating, likeMeezoog, to speed dating, to other sorts of activities that would put the client in contact with women who match the profile he has created for her.

These can include anything from twenties and thirties geared non-profit groups, to activity clubs, to classes, to events, etc. Then we evaluate which of those might contain the woman he is looking for, and we choose the one he is most comfortable embarking on to begin.  As he goes through that experience, I talk him through the process of whatever it is that he has chosen- how to integrate what he has learned into a real environment.

Sometimes this means going on-site with the client and literally coaching him through an event, fixing nervous or egregious behavior that has arisen and helping him to comprehend the scattered clues that most woman throw out upon first meeting a man, waiting for the guy who can best pick them up and assemble them in the way that she wants and expects.

And of course, just for fun and a little extra boost, I sometimes break out the stellar wing woman in me, using elementary tools of jealousy to make the client appear more attractive and desirable to other women, as well as utilizing my knowledge of female psychology to help my client open a conversation with the woman he finds appealing.

It’s not an easy or clean process, however the men who really want to find an incredible woman must engage in this kind of self-discovery and image building in order to succeed, and more importantly to satisfy this woman and to keep her.

But again, finding this kind of relationship is what will make the man happy for the long-term.

And this is the shift that has happened since the 90’s in the dating sphere: America’s preference has deviated from the charming and clueless ‘Fresh Prince’ to the man who struggles and goes the extra mile in order to find happiness. Hello Oscar.

Try Meezoog now to find your soulmate.

Las Cosas del Corazon

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

“Que haces in los Estados Unidos, Samantha?,” the passport control worker said to me. I had just arrived in Chile, excited to begin a writing assignment for a new client. The name on his tag read “Estigio Gomez.” He was a jovial, heavyset Chilean man. I smiled, delighted that I had recently learnt the Spanish word for “writer.”

“Yo soy una escritora,” I replied.

“ Joven para un escritoro, si?” he continued. (You are young for a writer, aren’t you?) I laughed, shaking my head. He smiled. “Que escribes?” (What do you write?)

“Ummm..” I hesitated. This was where my Spanish died. How on earth did you say ‘dating column’ in Spanish?

I didn’t know. So I said it in English, hoping that either the right word would come to me or he would just understand. “I write about dating, relationships, love…” I trailed off at the look on his face. He didn’t get it.“Umm..” I said again. I hated not knowing what I was talking about. “Amor!” I shouted jubilantly. Yes, I knew something that made sense was in there somewhere.

“Ahhhh,” he replied, his face melting into satisfied comprehension.

“Las cosas del corazon,” he said, drawing out the last syllable.

“Si!” I exclaimed. That was exactly right. ‘Cosas’ meant things, ‘Corazon’ meant heart.

I wrote about “the things of the heart.”

After I passed through customs and emerged out into the hot sunny parking lot of the Santiago Airport, I started thinking about the difference between ‘things of the heart’ and the words we usually use to explain the same things.

In America, our “things of the heart’ terminology are the following:    love, relationships, sex, and dating. But do these really describe all the things that go on in our hearts? And does a tendency to ascribe to one of these four indicate that the other things that go on aren’t important?

I realized that the latter was correct: by generalizing into four terms,  other things, emotions, and thoughts related to our hearts are marginalized by ourselves and by society. Thus, people who can’t categorize their feelings or situation into one of these linguistic baths end up feeling bashful and unimportant.

But what’s interesting is that most people, particularly in New York where over half of the population is single aren’t in love, in relationships, having regular sex, or even dating. So does that mean that the emotions in their hearts don’t matter?

Not at all. But in order for those emotions, and for those people to gain an accepted place in society, we need to appreciate other things besides the four catch words. We need to bring words like hook-up, lust, guilt, shame, crush, same-sex partners, into the media and into the general conversation.

So heading towards this Valentine’s Day, don’t feel bad if you aren’t in a relationship, haven’t fallen in love, or don’t have a date.

Because it doesn’t mean that your heart is empty, it just means it’s busy with other things- with friendship, family, nostalgia, ambition, etc. Things that may not be spattered on the cover of Cosmo, but are nevertheless just as important.

15 Top Dating Resolutions for the New Year

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

We make plenty of resolutions each New Year’s, most of which we don’t keep. This New Year’s, why don’t we make resolutions that are a) feasible (as in, not “lose fifty pounds and make a million dollars”) and b) that will help improve our happiness factor and make us more available and desirable as a mate.
Follow this list, and you may be kissing your fiancée come next holiday season.

  1. Keep a journal: Try to write in it as much as possible, about anything and everything. At the end of each month, read through it and notice detrimental actions or thoughts that keep repeating themselves- think about what you can do to reverse these patterns.
  2. Get personal: Make an effort to use the phone instead of texting, to handwrite a letter vs. shooting off an email. Your relationships will thank you.
  3. Don’t use a date (or a mate) to make u feel better about yourself: You should like someone for them and not because they validate a part of you that needs affirmation. A relationship based on validation is only bound for disaster.
  4. Schedule a weekly “you” class: “You” classes can run the gamut from painting to flying lessons. What they all have in common, however, is that they provide you with a creative outlet, a space to reflect, a chance to improve upon a skill, and increase your general satisfaction with life.
  5. Toss your “type”: If you are still single (and don’t want to be), or tend to get hurt more often than not, something about your “type” isn’t working! So think about it: what matters to you more, a mate who is buff, blonde, and makes 100 grand a year or one who is kind, thoughtful, and funny? To recreate the person you should be looking for, break down the things that are most important to you through a MASH like method of categories, traits, and ratings. For a more detailed explanation of this method, go to http://www.meezoog.com/blog/?p=170, “The Magic Formula For Finding Your SoulMate.”
  6. Give people a chance: Don’t write off prospects for trivial flaws or slight misdemeanors- you may end up missing out on a really great catch.
  7. Trust your instincts: If something feels off about someone, you are probably right. If you know in your heart a relationship is not going to work out, don’t keep trying to make it work. Also, no one can make you like someone- at the end of the day you are the one talking to a person, going to bed with them, existing in their company. So although your mother and best friend may happily offer their two cents on your most recent date, the decision of whether or not to be with someone belongs only to yourself.
  8. Read two good books a month: Preferably a Pulitzer Prize Winner or National Book Award novel and one an interest based or self-improvement type book- these will give you insight into important societal issues and themes and insight into yourself. In addition, they will give you topics and ideas to talk about on your dates, or to bring up in that pivotal first conversation with a prospect.
  9. If you think that you have spotted the man or woman of your dreams, don’t make excuses; go talk to them: Either you will quickly find out that the fantasy person you have created is only that; a fantasy, or may not even speak English! (that has happened to me) or perhaps your dream mate radar is on target and they really are your future spouse. Either way, it is better to know rather than to fantasize and salivate over a stranger.
  10. Forget about looking stupid/celebrate your quirks: Your embarrassing addiction to race cars or tendency to blush when someone says something complimentary may just be the icing on someone’s cakes. Your quirks are what make you interesting and endearing- don’t waste any time or energy hiding them.
  11. Get out there!: You are not going to meet someone holed up on your couch watching “House,” and eating sashimi. Schedule one singles or networking event a month to get yourself out there, and in general, try to take your friends up on offers to socialize whenever you can. And yes, that means even when you are tired.
  12. Invest in your appearance: Flattering clothes, a good haircut, and some makeup can turn an ugly duck into a swan (RIP Brittany Murphy)- you don’t settle in other areas in your life, so why would you settle when it comes to your appearance? (Coming soon: “The Dating Diva’s Top Tips for How to Look Great on a Budget”)
  13. Join a Dating Network: The new and refined version of dating websites, dating networks (like Meezoog, for example), use sophisticated technology and real profiles in order to enable you to meet prospects with similar backgrounds and friends. Screen your mate before you meet them, feel them out online or on the phone, get the goods on them from a friend in common, and check them out on facebook before you go out on that date.
  14. Find a good therapist: Everybody, and I mean everybody, has things to work on and talk about candidly with someone unbiased and trained to help people improve upon themselves and their relationships. Go to your health insurance site and find a therapist now (Psychologists are preferable to social workers or psychiatrists- better training for therapy).
  15. Make dating a priority: Forget about that stupid cliché, “You are going to meet someone when you least expect it.” The only value that this saying has is reminding you not to look like a schlep when you leave the house. If having a relationship or dating more often is important to you in your life, then you have to prioritize it, like anything else; this includes strategizing your free time towards meeting single people with similar interests to you. The good news is that just by having gotten through this list, congratulations, you are already on your way!

What is this world coming to?

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

http://gawker.com/5427642/rachel-uchitel-inspires-little-girls-everywhere-to-be-one-step-up-from-a-hooker

All I have to say about this is one word: Yikes. How do we send the message to our children that prostitution is not a viable career?

And where in God-s name are our morals?

Also particularly upsetting is “Ask Ashley,” as in Eliot Spitzer’s former prostitute, a column in the New York Post where Ashley gives relationship and sex advice.

A few questions:
Are prostitutes normally in relationships?
Did they screen her for STD’s before giving her this job?
Did she graduate college? Or even go?
And finally, what is this world coming to?

Please, if anyone knows the answers to these questions, enlighten me and our readers.

From Date to Mate

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Yes, folks, that is indeed the title of the mockumentary style new TV show in which I play Sara Rappaport, a Jewish girl looking for love in New York via the internet (I’m an actress, in case I didn’t mention that). Although the show is scripted, a lot of it is improv based, so I get to stick my two cents on dating into some of the dialogue.

A lot of interesting ideas are discussed in the show- one of them that I became particularly intrigued with is the concept of settling when you marry someone. The idea is that because it is so unlikely that we will find our ideal mate (and because, for many of us, our ideal mate is completely unrealistic), we end up settling for whoever it is that we do marry.

After thinking about this for a while (and my character going on and on about how unromantic the concept is), I think that this idea has merit. In order to be happy with someone, and to commit ourselves to them monogamously and otherwise, we must accept the fact that they have flaws- and for many of us this may be “settling,” or merely being realistic, because our “ideal mate,” who has lived in our head for years, is flawless.

And let’s face it- even Prince Charming probably has issues. I mean, please, he’s probably off fighting dragons all the time and never sees his wife.

Here is the link to the trailer http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=500304595000&ref=mf

and here is the link to the first episode. This is the first of eight episodes in the season.

http://shalomtv.org/DateToMate_1.htm

If you would rather, you can also watch the show on demand for free. Go to Entertainment on Demand, and click on Shalom TV, and then From Date to Mate.

Also, although on the show my character may belong to a different dating website, my full endorsement goes with Meezoog, as it is the most technologically advanced and savvy way to meet someone compatible via the web.

Find your date, or your mate, or both, now on Meezoog.

“Pretending It’s Chocolate”- link from BackStage

Monday, October 19th, 2009
Carob or Chocolate? Hard to tell, isnt it...

Carob or Chocolate? Hard to tell, isn't it...

Hey everyone! I also have the privilege of writing for Backstage Magazine, in addition to being the dating diva for meezoog.com, and today I am linking to my most recent blog on Backstage, as it is most certainly relevant to love, to our dreams, and to our own limitations. I hope that you enjoy it!

“Pretending It’s Chocolate.” http://www.backstage.com/bso/advice-first-person/pretending-it-s-chocolate-1004023295.story