Cait Emma Burke

But I kind of got to the point of burnout, like writing about it, being so in it, really just got to the point of feeling exhausted by dating and by downloading the apps and by, you know, the whole cycle that you go through.

It is a cycle.

It's such a cycle.

It's a vicious cycle and you just end up feeling like really fed up.

So I decided to take a nine month break.

I was celibate for nine months.

Well, it was actually meant to be a year and I buckled.

It worked out.

So, yeah, nine months to sort of recalibrate and also to look at, like, what was I doing that was leading to these, like, cycles or these patterns, right?

And how was I, well, was I choosing the wrong people?

And if so, how can I go into the next, you know, stage of dating being more, I don't know, like, more conscious and more considered with the way that I'm dating?

Yeah.

So the nine months really helped me work through a lot of that stuff.

And then, yeah, the first date I went on was Rob.

And I mean, just early on, he was just so funny and kind and I felt so comfortable and I was really honest about, which was quite a change.

I was trying to be very like direct about what I was looking for instead of trying to be like the cool, chill girl, which...

like I'm not a cool, I'm not a cool chill girl.

Like I'm anxious and I get stressed about this stuff.

You don't have to project that to a man for them to like you.

And like, yeah, exactly.