How To Navigate The Initial Meeting / Talking Phase

Dating can be very complicated, and well, I have been in a relationship for a while that started in an oddly traditional way. I thought I’d take the next few months to talk about dating in a traditional sense. Like any relationship, I will be starting with The Initial Meeting or Attraction AKA the Talking Phase.

Let’s start with deciphering signals. Signals are the first way in which we notice if someone is interested in us. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between someone being nice and someone who is flirting with you. Some sure ways to send out the right vibes and make sure you are getting the right ones back include:

  • Make prolonged eye contact

  • Touch in subtle ways. 

  • Compliment them

  • Respectfully tease them

  • Engage with their social media


Let’s talk about Talking. According to Urban Dictionary talking is “when two people like each other a lot and have established that they like each other but they aren't technically "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" yet but they don't talk to other people”.  The next set of Q and A’s is from an interview I did with my BFF Taylor in a previous blog.

Me: What has been your longest "talking" phase?

Taylor: Ummm... Probably a few months... my last relationship we "talked" for about 4 months before we were "official". 

Me: How long should one be in the talking phase before they agree to date?

Taylor: I guess this would depend on the people and what they have been through in their life. If someone has just been through a relationship or just been hurt or something like that, the talking phase would probably be longer. If they haven't been with anyone in a while and are ready for a commitment, then this talking phase should turn into dating faster.

Last, I wanna talk about Friend zoning. The friend zone is just a period in time when you have a friend you are interested in and those feelings are not reciprocated. Unrequited love sucks, yes, but this is not a reason to put the blame on someone not interested in you. And to the person who knows and is aware their friend is into them but does not have the same feelings, let that be known, don’t lead someone else on. Navigating the friend zone is about maturity and communication. 

Awesome, we have been talking, there's been some flirting, and we have managed to make it out of the friend zone into the Dating Phase. We will discuss this in the next blog, until next time :)

Sources:

Briana Fountain