Why I'm still commenting

I came across a blog that treats issues related to dating and the condition of the single, a topic that has crossed the pages of this blog at one time or another (does a blog have pages? No.); and, well, the treatment of the topics was rather engaging for me: I was excited to read and respond. For your benefit and for mine (i.e., in case the moderator of the blog deems fit to erase the comment), I've decided to re-post my comment here. They are my words. I claim the right to re-print them. In terms of style, the comments are much more personal than I have yet to post here, but then, you'll appreciate that the blog itself to which they were posted treats these issues very personally. Thanks to SS. Her posting to the blog Why I'm Still Single, and my comments re-posted below:

Four thousand years ago, on a patch of land I call Dramamine, the King of Dogs laid in wait with his legions of armies, fearsome, snarling dogs of war. They had fought for three centuries in the trenches of Dramamine, hoping that one day the lightsome halls of Caninia would shine forth on the land, saving fair sons and daughters from the stench and rotting...dating.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of dating either. The more I date--and I have been working really hard over the past three years to become the type of person who can date and be around people when I would rather just be by myself or with close friends--the more I realize that for all my efforts, I don't want to be the person that can work a crowd or be everybody's buddy. I want to be me and I want to do the things I want to do. I don't want to be alone, one on one with some random woman who I have casually met two or three times in the company of others. I feel like I am being dishonest by trying to be the type of person who enjoys dating in the conventional Oaks-approved way. I want to be honest with myself, not just a free dinner. No one likes to be considered a commodity: a wife to marry, a husband to marry. I want to know that I am more than a commodity for someone before we spend time together one-on-one. I want to know that I am interested in hearing what she will say and I want to know she is interested in what I will have to say before we go off by ourselves. Then maybe we can go on a 'date'.

In the meantime, I have filled my life up with all of the amazing activities and friendships I want to have in my life, and I am happy. And any time I feel the urge to go on an official-like date, creating the romance, I remember how much I don't like pretending to be something I am not. I have full confidence that as I live my life, work with my friends, enjoy the company of families at church and in my neighborhood, and work on the community and professional projects with other people that legitimately share those interests, I will be happy and I will be able to have rich, meaningful relationships that are a million times better than feeling like a commodity. I can be happy this way--really, fully happy. This life is infinitely better than being in a marriage that came as a result of me acting in a way that was only inhibiting my desires and who I really am. And, yeah, I am new to your blog as of the last three posts, and I'll admit, they create an attractive abstract idea of who you would be.