I was awoken this morning by the pounding of the rain on my roof.  I immediately jumped out of bed and pulled up the shade to my sliding glass door so I could meditate to the falling rain. It’s one thing to do it to a sound machine, it’s quite another to do it to the real thing.

As I sat, doing my open-eyed meditation, focusing on one specific trinette plant, (ironically nicknamed the umbrella plant) I noticed one leaf cluster that was bobbing rhythmically. It happened to be in the direct line of a constant drip rolling off of the roof. The poor leaf cluster was being ‘water tortured’ I felt so bad for it. I imagined if the leaf cluster were a cartoon with googly eyes, it would be rolling them, frustrated by the fact that it had no way of moving. It was stuck. No where to escape form the constant blow of raindrops. Forced to bob until the rain would eventually stop. And then what? It would dry up. Gee, that’s something to look forward to.

Suddenly, I was struck by how similar I was to that leaf cluster. Only instead of being stuck in a raindrop rut, I’m stuck in a dating rut. To me, this whole dating experience has felt like water torture, one ‘drip’ after another. The leaves couldn’t move, but I can. I’m not going to keep going through dry spells and water torture…. no! I’m making a bold move…

I’m giving up on men and focusing on women. Don’t worry, this isn’t turning into a college girl experiment. I’m simply going to take the energy I’ve been putting into meeting men, and put it into meeting girlfriends in my new environment. I’m here for a while, I should make friends.

So I took the first step. I joined some MeetUp groups. It was a tiny bit like going through sorority rush. I’d check out all the members of the group to see if the girls looked like me. If they did, I wanted to see how many active meetups they have. And finally I wanted to see how many people are attending the meetups.

The first theme I looked up was ‘female entrepreneurs’ and the group that grabbed my attention first was the one with the picture with the clip art of a cool looking business chick drinking a martini. Exactly the type of image I would use for this site. So I checked them out and joined.

Next, I looked up meditation groups. Those got a little weird.. not really what I was looking for. The people were a little scary, and I was afraid I was going to be dragged into a cult. Then I put fishing, boating, sports, etc., which all seemed to be predominantly male, or require lots of equipment I don’t have.

Now, book club brought up some pretty cool women. It’s a little farther than I want to drive right now, but I’ll keep the group in mind for once I make some girlfriends who will drive with me.

I joined an adventure group, because I want to tell AdventureBiz Babe, that I’m going on cool adventures.. although right now, it looks like the only adventure I’m willing to take with them is to one of the local dance clubs. I suppose once I get to know the group, they’ll be able to convince me to go on some of the more adventurous adventures.  I was going to go to their meetup last night at a ‘nightspot,’ when it occurred to me… how was I going to know who the 12 people were, once I got there? It’s not like meeting at a dock to go snorkeling, and you see the mass of people at the same spot waiting. This is a club, filled with strangers and they didn’t say, “Be sure to wear a purple carnation so we can identify you.”  Sure, the people in the group will be able to find each other, but how would I, a newbie, be able to identify one group of twelve strangers from another? Especially if six are on the dance floor?

So, I chickened out. BUT I did sign up for a cool event with the women entrepreneur group. It’s a company launch party, sponsored by a magazine, and while it too is at a club, at least I had to be put on a guest list. I figure when I arrive not only will there be signage for the magazine and the launching company, there will also be a friendly check in person directing me where I need to go.

My mission to meet women begins in three days!  I know I’m off to a good start because I’ll be greeted at the door with a sponsored “woman-tini,” which I’ll have to trade in for the virgin version. I know that any group that responds with a confirmation that reads, “Congratulations RCG! You are on the “A list”!” is a good fit for me.

So bye bye boys, hello girls!