I don't understand why one would long for a real life romance when there is plenty of romance drama online? In real life, the romance evaporates as soon as the novelty wears out and routine sets in in a relationship. At the beginning of a relationship the romance is carefree and flows naturally. Later on, all this is replaced by meticulously planned romantic experiences that feel overly artificial. Plus, real life romance has never been as exciting as the ones portrayed in romance dramas online. While binging on beautifully artistically crafted dramas online I was reminded that the list of my selection criteria regarding the "prospective partner profile" was overdue for review. This time companionship was both my top priority and quality that I was expecting in a "prospective partner". Also, I needed to ensure that they didn't have a baggage of unsolvable problems dragging behind and were always there for me. My overworked mind kept mulling day and night about where one is supposed to go and what one is supposed to do in order to meet such a lovely being. The answer came via a news video on a social media platform. It was a report about an increasing popularity of AI companions. The opinions on AI companionship experience that the interviewees shared during the video were quite compelling.
Eureka! AI Boyfriend perfectly satisfies the very latest set of my search criteria for the profile of a "prospective partner". And I would download the app offering the AI Boyfriend services right at this moment if not for the rather old model of my mobile phone set. But at least, there is hope for the future: a viable and realistic solution "almost within my reach".
The third task in the Drawing Manual asked to draw a three quarter view self-portrait.
In real life, cultivation of any skill or talent is much less exciting and less instantaneously gratifying compared to the one portrayed in the cultivation dramas.
The previous two drawing tasks seemed easy in comparison. It's one thing to draw an object from a still two-dimensional picture and quite the other, producing a drawing of a live subject. Serenity slowly uncovered the mirror by removing the cloth off it in her room and had to face that "eyesore likeness staring back at her" from the mirror for a couple of hours until the drawing had been completed.
"Are you surprised?" Ghostly Apparition inquired.
"Indeed, I am. The latest self-portrait looks nothing like my likeness in the mirror."
"It's the image of one of the Disembodied Spirits Roaming the World who recently reconnected to your energy field."
"What is it that they want from me?"
"You will learn in due time."
"I am glad to learn that I am so popular with spirits and ghosts and generational curses. I used to believe that I was alone in the world for most of the time. But your words give me "comfort"."
"By the way, how was your walking meditation this morning?"
"Why do you wish to know? Coincidentally, there was a speedboat going at full speed along the lakeshore up and down during the duration of my walk. It was so unbearably noisy."
"What an embodied persona non grata! You were frightened by wild animals yesterday. Thus, we found a "speedboat solution" in order to keep the animals away from the footpath during your walk. It's not easy for us to intervene in the World of the Embodied."
"My apologies, I didn't know that."
"It's alright. My energy is running low: I have to return."
There are so many bright-colored and soft yarn in the Yarn Shop at the City Center. It's late summer and fall is approaching fast (at least in Serenity's head). Knitting herself a set of a hat and a scarf for the cold season became the latest one of her projects.
Where next after the Yarn Shop? Bookstore is a place where I feel at home because among those numerous books on the bookshelves I always keep finding some with useful practical insights.
The Daunting Bookstore was right around the corner. At that particular hour there were only two persons around: a Salesperson and Serenity.
Let's check what they have in the healthy nutrition section?
"Good afternoon."
What a pleasant masculine voice? I wonder who it belongs to?
Serenity carefully peeked past the corner of a bookshelf behind which she stood. A tall man, long hair, tied in a ponytail, wearing sunglasses, white cotton shirt and denim jeans entered the shop. Irradiated by the rays of the afternoon sun it was too difficult to spot his facial features at that moment.
"Welcome to our store," the Salesperson greeted him.
His posture and his motion through space tells one that he must be somebody practicing yoga or martials arts or both. And there is a yogi bracelet on his left wrist. He inquired the Salesperson about the location of the shelves where books on artificial intelligence and quantum consciousness were stored and once pointed out headed there.
This person seems to have such an impressive charisma and identity: a Yogi with an interest in quantum consciousness. These are the criteria that I have been unconsciously searching for in my "prospective partner". Somebody very wise once said (something similar to) that problems could not be resolved using the same mindset that has created them (problems) in the first place. Forget the Mind: Quantum Consciousness is a whole New Species! I have so many problems that need resolving and only Quantum Consciousness can do that, I am very sure of it now! There is only the physical bookshelf that separates me from the New Horizons but how do I cross this barrier? He seems to be wearing a red thread bracelet on his right wrist. It's supposed to mean "lucky charm" or something. It truly is! I have just bought some red yarn for my knitting. Just need to cut a piece of it with a nail clipper and tie it onto my left wrist. Since we both are going to be wearing one, it's a proof of "shared spiritual values". So glad that this physical bookshelf provides me with some cover while I am busy with my "lending destiny a helping hand" operation. Finally, the thick woolly red yarn is on my left wrist. Now, how do I approach him? By pretending to accidentally trip, so that he could catch me like in the romance dramas online? But what if he doesn't watch the romance dramas and doesn't know the script? I might end up on the floor with broken bones and in an ambulance sooner than I might have the chance to introduce myself.
In the end, Serenity has decided to slowly walk to the bookstore section on artificial intelligence, pick a random book and pretend to be reading it a meter away from where the Yogi was standing and reading his book.
"I wonder if she might be from our industry? What is the language in which she codes and the level of her skill? This might be an opportunity for professional networking. Wait a minute! What's this woolly red thread on her wrist some thirty centimeters away from my wrist with a red thread bracelet? Have I become the subject of an unsolicited romantic attention?"
At that moment the Yogi glanced at the cover of the book in Serenity's hands... "AI Apocalypse".
"... a subject of an unsolicited romantic attention and from an AI Doomer on top of that?!"
The Yogi walked towards the counter as naturally as he possibly could and made a request regarding some latest book on quantum consciousness that the Salesperson promised to have ready for the pick up during the lunch hour on the following day.
I am so overjoyed! I cannot believe my luck! I kept looking for solutions in books but it turned out to be a person (the Yogi)! The Solution that I have been searching for for so long. All that suffering and losses no longer matter. Tomorrow, during the lunch hour I will say "Hello" to him.
The next morning Serenity woke up in high spirits.
The Yogi is a bit slow on visual signals. Hence, I need to give him a helping hand by employing stronger visual cues.
She put a white cotton shirt and a denim jeans on, a yogi bracelet on her right wrist and a red silk thread bracelet on her left wrist. A glass bottle was filled with freshly squeezed cucumber and kale juice, placed in a translucent bag hanging off Serenity's shoulder. She arrived at the Daunting Bookstore slightly before the lunch hour and parked herself in the Self-Help Section near the counter. The Yogi arrived on the agreed time accompanied by a very beautiful woman, wearing harem pants, a tank top, numerous bracelets and necklaces of colorful gemstones. Her hair was lustrous and voluminous almost waist length.
"What a Goddess-like looking woman," Serenity thought to herself.
The Yogini noticed her secret glance. She leaned in towards the ear of her companion and whispered half-voice: "This person must have been obsessed with fairy tales in childhood and binging on romance drama in adulthood. That's why you often find them in the Self-Help Section. I would love to handle her our yoga studio's business card. Yoga practice could ground her but I doubt she can afford our studio's membership fees. But she seems to finally have picked the right book from the shelf." The two of them left.
Serenity stood in a sort of emotionless stupor for a minute before the remark by the Salesperson snapped her out of it.
"Good choice of a book! The one you are holding in your hands: "Demonic Romance". The Therapist who wrote it is known as the One Who Has Travelled Thousands of Tumultuous Emotional Journeys with their patients. It's been a best-seller abroad."
"Thank you for the recommendation. I would like to purchase it, please."