The problem has always been that we’re presented with such a romanticized version of love stories. The brooding byronic hero’s love is an inescapable force and the damsel/strong women gravitates towards it. It’s a singular love, it’s either make it or break it, their communion was destined and they’re unbreakable; but is it true? Does modern love really resemble what’s been foretold for centuries, and if we’re being honest here, I would like to ask if any love is of this kind?
On the other hand we have the archetypal bad boy, who wins over woman with his enigma or emotional unavailability; another stereotype which manifests in possessive other halves who don’t let the other breathe. Love was never meant to be suffocating - well, not always - it’s interesting that we stand at destiny’s crossroads today, trying to decipher what love is, and more importantly what it should be, for after all it’s the gestalt of the cultural zeitgeist.
I would define love as a little more than friendship, it has the emotional availability of friendship; the zing that it brings along. It’s a little more than friendship considering there’s that physical connect which might or might not be in a friendship. Love and friendship are very much alike, to the extend that I would make the apposite claim that I love all my best friends. (This might invoke the collective groan of a lot of readers who either haven’t loved or who fail to see love to be anything beyond the physical realm).
Love is a synergistic bond, you let each other grow, you let each other fail, you scuffle, you make up, you stay put for each other - like friends do. In fact, friendship is not an exclusive relationship, you can be really close with a few different people; modern times juxtapose love to friendship by invoking the exclusivity clause - which is not fine by me, for it abases love to be merely physical. Love is more than that, love demands no sacrifice, you need not give up your friendships to taste the forbidden fruit.
Modern love is strange, and hopefully we come to see of it more like friendship; and less contractual
