The Dissolution of Love

Love. Such a small word. A mere four letters, but those letters come fully loaded. Personally I have a few problems with this word. Simply I don't believe in it. There are multiple levels of love, and I'm not saying it doesn't exist entirely. For me, I love my parents, sisters, nieces and my closest friends. I genuinely care about all aspects of their lives, both their highs and their lows.

Now for the not so nice part. In my 23 years of life, I have never been "in love." You might write this post off from that statement but hear me out. Throughout college, I chose to focus on school, friends and going out. Basically there was no time for guys and dating. Ok that would be a lie. I did date sporadically, but I was never in love. Ok that would be a lie too. At one point I really thought I knew what love was, and I had found it. Looking back now I would classify that "love" as more of an infatuation, which brings me to my main point.

Today, I believe true love has gone to the wayside to be replaced by a sneaky impersonator, infatuation. Around this time of year, it might seem everyone is in love, but what kind of love? From observation, it feels more people jump into relationships simply because they are scared of being alone. The next logical step is obviously to be in love, right? For my generation, I feel love has become a justification for mediocrity. If you're in a long-term relationship and are in love, you can look over your significant other's misgivings right? Like the fact they are a little messy. Or that they are controlling. Or that they are sometimes unfaithful. Yes, many things are overlooked in the name of love. Seeing this in others' relationships makes me doubt the existence of real love.

Do you blame me? Take what I've said with a grain of salt. I'm not saying that love is completely nonexistent. I have plenty of friends in relationships who will probably marry their current boyfriends. After this blog though I may not be invited to anyone's wedding.