“It was love at first sight.” We’ve seen it in films, we’ve heard it from the couple now deeply in love, and maybe we believe we’ve experienced it ourselves. However, I’m sure we’ve also all had this notion questioned or question it ourselves, “Is it really possible to love someone at first sight?”
There is a clear reason as to why this concept is often debated: people have mixed and unclear definitions about “love.” “Love at first sight” involves a romantic, erotic, and intimate love. This kind of love requires a knowing of another, cultivated over time shared together. On first meeting, you may know qualities about someone, but you cannot really know them. Coming to know someone takes time. Through shared experiences we learn who another is: their likes and dislikes, strengths and flaws, how they view the world. We come to appreciate them solely for who they are and the possibility for love becomes available. Love is more than a physical attraction, it is the recognition of the full beauty within a person.
While the potential for future love may be present at first meeting, we are left to believe there is only “lust at first sight.”