Everything Is So Romantic: Learning To Love Beyond Romance

After this past year, I learned that worrying about only romantic love will kill you; there is platonic and everyday love everywhere.

Over the past 4 years of college, I have always looked for love through relationships and with any random man. However, that love isn’t the only love worth searching for. There is love everywhere, from my roommate wondering how I slept to the coffee shop barista giving me my drink for free.  

Love isn’t defined by someone; it is defined by yourself. 

THE LONGEST RELATIONSHIP

After a disappointing encounter with a situationship, one of my friends gave me one of the greatest pieces of advice. “You need to love yourself first, because the longest relationship you’ll ever have is with yourself.” This hit me hard, because I was caught up in everything and overlooked myself. With American culture being fast-paced and being the best at everything, I realized I wasn’t the best at treating myself. I learned that through everything, like friendship, family, relationships, and even work, all you have is yourself. This isn’t a bad thing, but not valuing yourself and caring for yourself can affect your idea of love and the love you put out into the world. 

Take a minute and treat yourself. 

Everyday Love

We expect love to be vocal and loud, through words of affirmation and big displays of affection. However, love comes in many silent forms, like acts of service and remembrance. Having someone ask if “they got home safe” or remembering what you told them a few weeks ago can go a long ways more than just saying, “I love you”; itshows that they genuinely care for you. It doesn’t have to be someone you know personally either. It can be a nurse taking care of their patient, a barista writing smiling faces on the drinks, or helping someone grab an item on the top shelf. This may seem like a job or a task, but it means more than that. It is a small act of kindness that many people don’t have to perform. 

Society is so trained to receive love through people’s big acts of love, but it really is through yourself and the small things in life.

• friendship
• introspective
• love
• mental health