Love
I remember when I was 14, we started studying Romeo and Juliet in school. I remember being so excited when I went home and told dad. I also remember how he dismissed it, calling the story a tale of two fools. I dont think I gave it much thought at the time. I guess, regardless of what anyone else thought at the time, I was purely, completely fascinated.
Once we began studying the story, it didnt matter to me that the party where Romeo met Juliet was one he had gone to for her cousin, Rosaline. I was enchanted by the concept of love at first sight and somewhere in my childish mind, I decided that was what true love was. I remember not caring about how short lived their love affair was. I did not care that they died in the name of love. When I was just 14, I didnt care because I didnt know.
I just wanted a love where I knew at the first glimpse that he would be the one. I didnt want to waste my time trying to figure out who was right and who was wrong because in my mind, I knew anyone who I did not make an instant connection was not the one. I wanted a love where all that was needed was that first sight. Somehow, in my mind nothing else mattered.
Today, almost six years later; I can not help but think back to how right my father had been. Romeo and Juliet had portrayed an image of two people who would have rather died than be apart. Only now do I understand how toxic that was and how it affected my definition of love. We romanticize relationships where two people can not let a moment pass by in each others absence. We romanticize this need, this hunger for someone that is beyond our own. We disregard those around us and we are willing to sacrifice anything and everything for them.
Im not sure I know the meaning of love today but I do know what love is not.
Love is not when you spend countless hours talking to each other and only each other.
Love is not when you shut the world out and depend on just one person for all your needs.
Love is not when you would die for each other.
No, that is obsession. A far leap from love.
See, I now know what kind of love I want. I want a love where we live for each other. A love where the slightest moments apart do not make us sick to the pit of our stomachs. A love where we know no matter where we are in the world, we are in each others hearts. I want a love where we take midnight walks and count the stars with our heads on each others shoulders rather than be buried before our time.
Ive seen so many beautiful, talented girls and boys who are willing to give up everything for a chance to be with someone they love. I have seen them put their lives, their futures and their talents in the backseat to accommodate someone else. This is for them. Today, it may feel like how you feel is how you will feel for the rest of your life but that is not the case. As much as we want to, we can not stop the world and watch our lives fly by us.
Once we began studying the story, it didnt matter to me that the party where Romeo met Juliet was one he had gone to for her cousin, Rosaline. I was enchanted by the concept of love at first sight and somewhere in my childish mind, I decided that was what true love was. I remember not caring about how short lived their love affair was. I did not care that they died in the name of love. When I was just 14, I didnt care because I didnt know.
I just wanted a love where I knew at the first glimpse that he would be the one. I didnt want to waste my time trying to figure out who was right and who was wrong because in my mind, I knew anyone who I did not make an instant connection was not the one. I wanted a love where all that was needed was that first sight. Somehow, in my mind nothing else mattered.
Today, almost six years later; I can not help but think back to how right my father had been. Romeo and Juliet had portrayed an image of two people who would have rather died than be apart. Only now do I understand how toxic that was and how it affected my definition of love. We romanticize relationships where two people can not let a moment pass by in each others absence. We romanticize this need, this hunger for someone that is beyond our own. We disregard those around us and we are willing to sacrifice anything and everything for them.
Im not sure I know the meaning of love today but I do know what love is not.
Love is not when you spend countless hours talking to each other and only each other.
Love is not when you shut the world out and depend on just one person for all your needs.
Love is not when you would die for each other.
No, that is obsession. A far leap from love.
See, I now know what kind of love I want. I want a love where we live for each other. A love where the slightest moments apart do not make us sick to the pit of our stomachs. A love where we know no matter where we are in the world, we are in each others hearts. I want a love where we take midnight walks and count the stars with our heads on each others shoulders rather than be buried before our time.
Ive seen so many beautiful, talented girls and boys who are willing to give up everything for a chance to be with someone they love. I have seen them put their lives, their futures and their talents in the backseat to accommodate someone else. This is for them. Today, it may feel like how you feel is how you will feel for the rest of your life but that is not the case. As much as we want to, we can not stop the world and watch our lives fly by us.
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