Love: The Ultimate Waste

Love. What is it, really? The word gets thrown around so much nowadays that it can be difficult to pinpoint what the word even means. Some use it as an engagement, as a next step in a relationship. Saying "I love you" is a major stepping stone to them. Others use it as frequently as they draw breath, which, unless they are undead and do not need oxygen, is quite frequently. Bye! Love ya! Love you! Love love love! Omg ily bae!
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So what does this actually mean? What is the purpose of proclaiming love for someone, whether it be significant to the individuals proclaiming it or not? My opinion?

Love is the Moby Dick of mankind. 

But that brings us back to the question, what is love? Well, that question has been asked since the beginning of time. Well, not literally of course, but it has been asked. A damn lot. The romanticized idea of love is most likely what most people consider love to be.

What I mean by "Romanticized Love" is quite simple. It is the feeling one gets when they see their crush doing something and get that 'butterfly' feeling in the gut. While this feeling implants happiness in tummies and giddy little chaps go apeshit at the idea of their future wedding to their crush, this feeling doesn't actually do anything. Congratulations. You got temporary enjoyment from seeing the face of someone that most likely does not remotely reciprocate your feelings. Well...I guess that could be considered something. However, there is a reason it is called a crush. They tend to end with one person, or both people, getting their emotions shattered.

But what does crushes and ouchy bouchy shattering of emotional states have to do with a white whale? Well, consider the story of Moby Dick. Captain Ahab spends his entire life chasing after the whale, the whale he could never catch. It became an obsession for him, an all consuming desire, a desire that ultimately led to his demise.

Sound like anything?

Now, there are people that have found love. This is true. However, they do not stay in love. They fall in and out of it and stay together via hard work, something that is quite clearly lost in many aspects of today's society. I have seen too many young men and women expecting relationships to be like something out of a romantic comedy, where all conflicts are resolved in a couple hours and the couple falls in love forever and lives happily ever after.

Guess what? It doesn't work like that. At all. In the slightest.

Being in a lasting relationship requires metric fucktons of work. Both partners need to work (it is called work because it is not fun) at keeping each other and themselves happy. Compromises must be made, and in some cases are even the norm. A true compromise means both (yes, both parties) must come to agreement. Compromises often mean that neither party is happy, but they do it because it is the best for everyone. Guess what? A healthy relationship is not a giant power struggle in which the man or woman holds the stick of infinite domination power over the other. Man and woman are used here as place holders, this applies to all types of couples as well. Man/man, woman/woman/ wombat/t-rex, whatever. Domination sticks are bad news.

Rampant narcissism does not love make. Thinking only of oneself in a relationship is even more pointless than trying to make water more wet. It's ridiculous, foolish, and a waste of time. And, frankly, if one only thinks of themselves, why are they even in a relationship? Possibly seeking self-gratification from the compliments of others? But I digress.

Mankind will always chase love, and it will always elude our grasp. Some find it, but they never keep it, as it changes within their grasp. Their first love is not the love they end up with, and the truly smart people adapt and accept their new love. The narcissist complains that their new partner is not satisfying them, dumps them on a corner somewhere, and moves on with their feeble life.