The crush crash: Why do we fancy fewer people as we get older?
Sometimes I look back on my twenties with a wistful admiration. Life wasn’t better then – far from it. I was perpetually broke, lived in horrible house-shares and had yet to figure out how to dress in a manner that didn’t make me look like a children’s TV presenter.
Still, you know what I do miss about those days? Fancying people. I fancied everyone back then. Well, maybe not quite everyone – but pretty much every other person. Go to a house party and you’d bump into a minimum of five fanciable characters. Head to a bar and you’d daydream about copping off with at least 30 per cent of the patrons. I had a new burning-hot crush to lust after once a fortnight and I have the anguished diary entries to prove it.
It’s not to say these mild obsessions were effortlessly meet someone – anytime, anywhere – who made your heart skip a beat. It felt like being permanently on the cusp of your next great love story. There was so much potential; life was pregnant with romantic possibilities.
