I first learned about the concept of the Quirkyalone in an Advanced Composition class I took in college (I was an English major, we had lots of classes with ambiguous titles). The course revolved around a textbook of essays, including Sasha Cagen's People Like Us: The Quirkyalones which I immediately loved.
A Quirkyalone is the term Cagen coined to describe herself, a perpetually single romantic. On her website she defines a quirkyalone as "a person who enjoys being single (but is not opposed to being in a relationship) and prefers being single to dating for the sake of dating. It’s a mindset. Quirkyalone is not anti-love. It is pro-love. It is not anti-dating. It is anti-compulsory dating." I love that she promotes the idea of being content with oneself whether you are in a relationship or not. Since the essay was first published in 2000 it has become a world-wide movement, including books, meet-ups, and even a holiday - which just so happens to fall on Valentine's Day.
You can learn more about this movement at the website, quirkyalone.net. And if you think you might be a Quirklyalone, you can take the quiz here and find out! (I'm a 98, Very Quirkyalone, in case you were wondering.)
