#aroversary

[arotechno]

happy 10 year unofficial aroversary to me <2

around that same time 10 years ago, i had to do a school project outlining my 10 year plan for the future. in the midst of figuring out who i was, that seemed like such an impossible task. it was like staring down the barrel of a future that was getting more uncertain for me each day and being expected to somehow know who i wanted to become. who at age 15 really knows what they want out of life? 7 of those years were going to be school for me anyway.

but i did the project, and those 10 years came and went, and all things considered, i'm much happier than i was back then. it was scary to figure out who i was. it was incredibly isolating to be aro in 2014. sometimes, it still is. by and large, i've gotten lucky with the people i have in my life. but i also know that an aro future is one that must be built from scratch with your own two hands. i'm more confident in my aro identity now, as time, maturity, and community are wont to do. but even more importantly, i don't fear that uncertainty as much anymore.

i draw strength from knowing how much things have changed in the past 10 years. my first year in college, on several occasions i spotted the same person on the bus with aro and ace pins on their bag, but i never had the chance to stop them and say hello. it was the first time i didn't feel alone. i think about them whenever i wear my own pins and patches out in public, and i wonder if i've been that person for somebody else. that reminder that we are not alone, that you will not have to hide who you are forever, that aromanticism is something to be proud of. life is cyclical like that; be the out and proud aro you wish to see in the world. build your own castle.

that's all for my rambling thoughts on 10 years. i hope if 15 year old me saw me now, they'd be overjoyed. if you're a young aro, know that you can be whoever you want to be. your life is yours, you were born whole, and there is nothing anyone can do or say to change that.

do i get a senior discount for this?

[gayarograce]

Today (September 19) is my second aroversary! 🎉

Damn, it's kinda crazy to me that I've identifies as aro for two years now... Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, its not that long, but still.

Also, throughout these past two years, pretty much every other part of my identity that I label (sexuality, gender, etc.) has changed, but not being aro. For me, thats the one thing that's stayed consistent throughout this time.

Anyway, just like last year, y'all are free to send me asks about anything aro-related! In fact, please do! I'll answer them throughout the day.

[goondah]

Today marks one year since i figured out i was aromantic call that an aroversary

[aliens-took-my-iwa-chan]

wahooo happy aroversary to me xD

[our-aroace-experience]

Hello! I hope this is okay to place here- I wanted to get this out there somewhere.

Today is my two-year Aroversary and I can't believe how happy I am to be aromantic.

Figuring that part of me out was messy and scary and full of uncertainty, but it gave me the strength to explore myself and where I stood in the LGBTQ acronym. Though it was tough for me to accept being Aro, I would never trade that time or the experience of changing labels in order to find one that finally fit.

I am aromantic and I'm so happy that I am. I'm also happy that my Aroversary falls on the literal day after Valentine's Day because it's perfectly sandwiched between that holiday and the start of ASAW. It's the absolute best thing.

Anyways, thanks for letting me gush about this for a minute - I hope all is well in your corner of the world!

- sweetgladiatorfestival

i’m so glad you’ve figured it out!

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

I've been really looking forward to aro week, I've been excited, I've been thinking about things to do for aro week, it's my two year anniversary of iding as aro - and then I get caught up in a few projects on minecraft of all places and lose track of the days. I've only missed a little though. But happy aro week!! (yes I already built an aro flag in my minecraft world)

Oh yeah, that's pretty to do. Definitely lots of aro week left still, though.

Happy aro week, Anon! And happy aroversary!!

[pizzaronipasta]

I still can't get over the fact that I discovered I'm aro just in time for the first ever Aromantic Visibility Day. Happy 1st aroversary to me.

HAPPY FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL AROMANTIC VISIBILITY DAY

[transient-booty]

Today is my three year aroversary! It's been three years now that I've been comfortable enough with myself to openly and vocally identify as aromantic 💚

[arotechno]

today is my ninth aroversary. see you all next year for the big one

[gayarograce]

Happy aroversary. I think this is the creature from the game you like. My question for you is, now that you know you are aromantic, are there any memories you have of pre-aromantic-identifying times that indicated you were aromantic?

[Image description: A drawing of the knight from Hollow Knight. Its cloak has been colored with the colors of the aromantic pride flag. Attached to its back is an aromantic flag. Below it is text which reads, "Happy Aroversary". End ID]

Yooo, this is co cool! Thank you for the drawing, I appreciate it!!

Anyway, as for your question:

I can definitely remember some times that, in hindsight, were probably some major green-white-and-black flags that I was aro.

I didn't date anyone in high school. Hell, I didn't even try to date anyone. No one in my high school (with one exception I'll talk about later) was really interesting enough for me to even consider being in a relationship with them. My excuse (mostly to myself--i was never personally questioned about my perpetual single status to my recollection) was that the majority of relationships formed in high school don't last, so why even bother?

Another sign I'm aro in hindsight is that on the extremely rare occasions I would picture myself trying a relationship with anyone, there were basically no romantic elements in my imagined relationship. I basically imagined my hypothetical relationships as friends who live together and sometimes have sex. I feel I should add that, although I'm not actively looking for a relationship right now, I am open to maybe eventually getting into an aro4aro qpr with someone at some point down the line, which, in my head, would look similar to the relationship I just described. I guess that just must be my ideal relationship lol.

I don't know if this is an aro thing or not because I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about this (so it could just be a me problem), but all throughout high school, I could never tell when two of my friends were dating each other. Actually, I couldn't tell when any two people were dating unless I was either told or I walked by them PDA-ing in the hallway. If I wasn't told by someone, "A and B are dating," usually just assumed they were friends. I can remember a time when two of my friends dated each other for a little bit, while I was actively friends with them. I didn't know and didn't find out until they mentioned it off hand months after they broke up and went back to being friends! They were surprised when I told them that was news to me!

Right, I think that's all the stories I can think of for now. Maybe if I think of more I'll add them on later.

(Also I hope you don't mind I tried to improve on your image description by adding a little more context.)

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

Funny story: So I'm aro and I kinda forgot Valentines Day existed for a sec until I saw a 'taken, or solo?' little post for engagement by a youtuber. I'm also in an open relationship, currently with two people. But also, since one has another partner and the other is busy with school and we live kinda far from each other, most likely I will be making a virtual valentines card with an inside joke for my best friend. Like whoo, thanks for reminding me. Also, also, I very much love romance in fiction, with a variety of usually not too intense feelings towards it irl.

Additionally, the moment I remembered Valentine's was coming up (after I got out my being struck for a loop for the narrowness of the options of the post and trying to figure out how I could answer that, because it seemed a very much 'in a relationship or not' question which is a little complicated for me, a polyamorous person, open to relationships that are also not based in romance) I was like oh !!! that means aro week is pretty soon too!!! I realized I was aro with a final pushing during aro week a couple of years ago, so happy anniversary to me from me. Heh, arospec thought process.

That's excellent, Anon, thanks for sharing. And happy upcoming aroversary!

All the best!

[gayarograce]

Saw your post about your aroversary and wanted to ask:

What is an "aroversary"? Is it celebrating any event in particular?

I thought I had a crush on a girl once in 8th grade, does that preclude me from being aromantic? (/half joking)

Hello, and thanks for the ask, anon!

1. "Aroversary" is a portmanteau of "aromantic" and "anniversary." It's simply the anniversary of when you discovered you were aro. Not every aro celebrates theirs (or even knows when theirs is; you can't always pinpoint an exact date), but some do, and I noticed my first one was coming up, so i figured I'd do a little something.

2. Short answer: not necessarily. Aromanticism is a spectrum; there're way more possibilities than just being at 0 or 100. If that supposed crush is your only experience of the sort, then that sounds to me like you could be somewhere on the arospec. It's also possible it wasn't a crush at all and was instead some other type of attraction (sexual, platonic, or aesthetic, as examples, but there are even more than those). AUREA has a huge list of arospec labels (+ a few extras) you can check out if you want. Ultimately, the only person who can decide if aromantic or any of its sublabels are right for you is, well, you.

[gayarograce]

Congrats on the aroversary!

How did you figure out you're aro? And how long did the questioning process take?

Thank you!

Honestly not sure if I've ever told the story of how I figured it out on this blog or not, so here goes!

Throughout most of my childhood I had just assumed I was straight, and it wasn't until about halfway through high school (so I would've been about 16) that I started to question that. I began to notice that I'd never really felt like trying to get a girlfriend. It was expected of me, sure, but I'd not felt inclined to ever try for a relationship. So I'd say that's about the start of my questioning, but I didn't put a whole lot of importance on it at the time.

Fast forward about a year and a half. I'm almost 18 and also almost done with high school. By now, I had began questioning myself again, and this time the need to try and find a label for what the hell I was was significantly stronger. I eventually settled on gay, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer. It was also around that time that Jaiden Animations' coming out video was released, which introduced me to the word aromantic, which I briefly considered, but still wasn't that sure about. I wanted more information.

That summer I kept questioning my identity (I think I just labeled myself as queer during that time, while trying to figure it out more precisely). I kept checking out this "aromantic" thing and wondering if maybe that was the answer I was looking for.

And that's where I was going into university. A few weeks into classes I found out about a meeting for those who were questioning their queer identities. I decided to try going to that, but as the day approached I got more nervous. At the time I'd never opened up to anyone about how I was feeling with regards to my identity.

So, the night before, due to my nerves, I basically speedran the rest of the figuring-it-out process. I stumbled across a list of like 50 "you might be aromantic if..." statements, found that I related to most of them, and decided then that aromantic seemed to fit me pretty well.

And that night was 2 years ago.

Anyway, to answer your second question, the answer could range from a few years to a few months to basically a few hours, depending on when you want to define as the start of my aromantic questioning, as per the story.

[gayarograce]

My first aroversary is tomorrow! I don't really have anything planned, but if yall want, go ahead and send me asks about anything aro-related! It can be about experiences I've had, my self-discovery journey, or even less personal questions; it's your call, really. I'll answer any asks I get tomorrow.

[arotechno]

oh my god wait i almost forgot today was my (unofficial) 8 year aroversary