Thawing: The Dating Trend Here Just In Time For Spring

Just when you think you've mastered the understanding of all the dating trends bouncing around in the world, another one emerges that needs to be added to the big book of dating trend definitions. As long as people are willing to put themselves out there and date — which is likely to continue until the end of time, no matter how trying it can be — there will be terms assigned to the behavior that comes with it. Granted, none of this behavior is particularly new, it's just that technology has made these things more common and we, as a culture, have decided everything must be given a name. So here we are.

As we roll into mid-April, we find ourselves coming across another dating trend that has been incredibly prevalent so far this year. With the world in the northern hemisphere starting to re-awaken, crocuses pushing their way up through the ground, the sun getting warmer, and everything around us thawing thanks to that sun, we just might find ourselves thinking about people from our past. People that we, perhaps, froze and now would like to thaw out. Yes, the thawing season is upon us.

What's great about thawing is that it's not necessarily a toxic dating trend like catfishing or the ever-popular ghosting. Thawing is when someone technically unfreezes a person they had frozen because they didn't think they were a fit at the time. It doesn't mean that there weren't good intentions there, but maybe the timing was wrong, something came up in their personal or professional life that interrupted things, or perhaps they just realized they weren't ready to date. There are so many potential reasons that can stand in the way of two people getting to know each other and potentially falling in love.

Whatever the case may be, now that we're in a new year and spring has given way to new thoughts, people are starting to reconsider that person who was frozen. They want to thaw them out and give dating them a proper try or, in some cases if there were real dates, they want to pick up where they left off and see where it goes. 

On the surface, thawing may not look very romantic. Although someone with whom you chatted and maybe dated briefly reaching out to you isn't a bad thing, it can make you feel like maybe you were benched (the dating trend where someone basically sat you on the sidelines because they were feeling lukewarm about things). However, that might not be the case at all.

Take a look at where we are: We've just come out of a pandemic, inflation is taking a big bite out of people's wallets, and many of us have been walking around wondering what the heck is going on — something we must take into consideration when dating. People are being more mindful than they were pre-pandemic, so while there will always be those toxic dating trends, thawing isn't one of them if you look at it with an open heart. 

If someone from your past comes around to thaw you this spring, it doesn't mean it's coming from a place of former indifference or lack of interest in you. It could actually mean they always thought you were great, but the stars weren't properly aligned, so to speak, the first time around. And, as you've been told hundreds, if not thousands of times in your life, timing is everything.