At some point in our lives, most of us set out on an adventure to find love and someone to settle down with.
We meet new people, go on dates, figure out what we are looking for and what we are not looking for and eventually get into meaningful relationships all in search of finding someone with whom we have a deep connection and a sense of comfortability.
This routine has been a part of our lives for centuries, although it is ever changing.
New technologies have been major facilitators of budding romances for a while now, starting with the popularity of video dating in the 1980s.
If you have never had the experience of watching a montage of mustached men with questionable haircuts awkwardly explain why they are the man of your dreams, I highly encourage you to look up a clip compilation on YouTube.
In the present, technology has allowed us to connect with others from all over and at any time through the internet.
It is no wonder that 20 per cent of committed relationships begin online, whether it is through a social networking site such as Facebook or Instagram or a dating website like eHarmony or Plenty of Fish. Recently, a study discovered that there are over 7,500 websites worldwide dedicated to online dating.
In the book Modern Romance, the author Aziz Ansari goes to a retirement home to ask the residents about their dating experiences. Ansari discovers that many of the residents met their partners due to proximity; most lived in the same town as their eventual spouse, others on the same street and one who others lived just down the hall in their apartment building.
Personally, I would have never found my partner if it were not for online dating.
I live here in Summerland, and my boyfriend is from Lumby, a place that at the time I had never been to. Our paths would have likely never crossed if he had not sparked a conversation with me, we would have never shared some of the most incredible moments I have experienced and my life now would be immensely different.
If evolution of social interactions and the way we date is of any interest to you, there are some great titles at the library.
Anatomy of Love by Helen Fisher and Love Illuminated by Daniel Jones both explore data collected through thousands of people to detail the history of love and personal relationships.
For a guide on how to approach the unfamiliar new ways of dating,read Modern Dating by Chiara Atik or Love @ First Click by Laurie Davis.
For a laugh, make sure to check out Fake Missed Connections by Brett Fletcher Lauer.
Kayley Robb is an assisant communty librarian at the Summerland branch of the Okanagan Regional Library.