Dear Hopeless Romantic,
As we sit back and watch or read, we observe that almost everything has a love story. Whether it be Judd Nelson raising his fist in the air because he got the girl or reading about Noah and Allie finally realizing after many years that they are meant to be together. Maybe it's John Cusack holding a boom box outside our window or Michael Schoeffling waiting outside the church to ask you on a date. It could be written in a letter by Bradley Cooper to Jennifer Lawrence expressing his love for her -- the silver lining. It could be McDreamy proposing to you in an elevator or Nathan Scott kissing you in the rain. The point is, that we are surrounded by love in everything we watch, read or do. How could we not be hopeless romantics?
However, real life isn’t based on a novel or a film. People don’t just admit they like each other; it’s a bit more complicated. This generation has thrown dating out the window. They have transformed it into the “friend zone” or “friends with benefits." It is strange if a person asks someone out on a date just because they think they are nice or that they may be attracted to them that way.
Relationships start out as friendships or it could be that they were sleeping with each other for a while and one caught feelings for the other. In both situations, life could get complicated. Friendships could be ruined in both situations. But why? Why has our generation turned casual dating into casual sex or just friends?
Im not saying that there aren’t people out there that go on dates but I am saying that theres not enough of it. We are apart of the its “Facebook Official” or the “they have a gold star on Snapchat” generation. Its not just the people that made “dating more complicated, it’s the technology. Facebook relationship statuses can make or break any friendship or relationship. Its unnecessary to obsess over these technological things that don’t matter in the end. What should matter is the relationship one person has with another, not what they post or who they Snapchat. Life will never be like a movie. However, life should be a little bit more like some of the generations in those movies. More carefree and more interactive with a person in person.
To be a hopeless romantic in a hopeless generation is a hard thing. You fall in love with the characters in these television shows and movies. You root for the guy to get the girl and in the end they always do. As a hopeless romantic you want nothing more than for something that magical and that spectacular to happen to you. However, that may be just a fairytale ending in this generation. Sometimes you may find that diamond in the rough, the one person that may surprise you and give you the fairytale ending you want and deserve. It’s hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely because almost everyone still has that smallest bit of hope, of faith, that one day they’ll open their eyes and it will all come true.
So, you may not get the girl like in "Sixteen Candles" or "The Breakfast Club." You might not receive a love letter like in "Silver Linings Playbook" or wait years before marrying the girl of your dreams like in "The Notebook." You might not have your vows on a post it like in "Greys Anatomy" or get married in high school and have a love that lasts a lifetime like in "One Tree Hill." Whatever you get it will be your story, your love story.
Once in a while, people may surprise you and some may even take your breath away. So, don’t give up on this generation or the people in it just yet. I believe that everyone deserves the fairytale ending that they have read about in books or have seen in movies. Everything takes time and with time it will come. Everyone deserves the chance to love and be loved. So a little advice to the hopeless romantics living in this generation, don’t give up just yet. Hold on to the romance you thrive off of because one day you’ll create your own movie with the one you love, with your own fairytale ending. It may not be how you pictured it, it might be better than you ever dreamed it would be.
Sincerely,
A Fellow Hopeless Romantic
