It's a tiny, tiny world...

I had lunch with one of my favorite husbands today.
I always feel so validated and grounded when I spend time with him... I wish that he lived closer so I could absorb the calm more often. Things have been rough for him, but he is in the process of accepting the way things are so that he can rediscover his happy. Don't we all need to do a little more of that??
We talked about... well... everything... but in the middle of it we had a conversation that was similar to another conversation I had this weekend with another of my very dearest friends. The general idea was that the groups of people we know are small and tightly looped around other groups we know to the extent that we have dated (or know someone who has dated) everybody in a 500-mile radius. More or less. Which leaves very few options.
The general consensus is that it would be an amazing feat to meet someone who didn't know everyone you know already. But that would also be exhausting. You know, what with the actually having to get to know someone and all.
Considering the long list of people they both know despite the fact that they have never met, this seems to be sort of impossible. Maybe I'm wrong.

Basically I need to either move far, far away, give up on dating people I don't already know, or just give up on dating.

I think about that feeling I had two years ago - I was so completely done with relationships of any kind. I couldn't imagine handing myself over to another human being for safekeeping. I couldn't wait to have my life back - that's how I thought about it. My relationship with Jeff had become this cancerous growth that had completely taken over my entire life and I wanted it gone. Surely there is a middle ground. Surely there is something between alone and overtaken.