There are oceans of cliche ways to go about this topic. I am not going to sit here and preach about why I love watching romantic movies and wish it was my life, or discuss my Pinterest board that is titled “Hopeless Romantic.” No. I’m talking about the raw emotion that comes from wearing your heart on your sleeve every day. Although it can hurt sometimes, it allows us to live more honestly and closer to the people we surround ourselves with.
Being a hopeless romantic means you’re highly susceptible to extreme emotions, both good and bad. And that is just how it is: the good and the bad always come together. Yes, we love harder and care more, but we also fall harder and our wounds are a little deeper. All this does is make us stronger and more emotionally adaptable. I’m not saying we’re sensitive; rather, we don’t allow ourselves to be hardened by the world. Zooey Deschanel once said,
“…Don’t allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things.”
We are all born as hopeless romantics. Children will give anything away if they know it will make someone else smile. It may just be a rock they found at the park, but to them, it was all they had. If they see someone crying, they feel their sadness. We are born with extreme empathy, but the sad truth is that the world we live in takes that away from us if we aren't careful.
In turn, we become passionate in hopes we can make up for some of that hardness in the world. The concept of being in love is so enchanting to us. We want to grasp it and cannot understand how others don't share our perspective. So we give and give and give it until we’re empty and must get away to refill. We care endlessly in a multitude of ways and expect the love we give to be returned. It is that expectation which makes us hopeless.
Others might say we lack a backbone, or that our kindness makes us weak. Therefore, we should fear that people will walk all over us and take advantage of our inexhaustible empathy. Many also believe we are oblivious to people's agendas and their social cues. In reality, we are perfectly aware and competent in standing up for ourselves. The faith we have in others is also enforced upon ourselves because, similar to the potential we see in other people, we recognize the capability within ourselves.
I can’t lie and say that we don’t get out of hand occasionally, soar up in the clouds and beam with unrealistic optimism, because we most certainly do. In spite of this, isn’t there something to be said for people who are genuinely happy, even if it means sometimes looking at society through a foggy lens?
Feeling the emotions we have is not a weakness, but proof that we can allow them to affect us while never changing our perspective. The truth is the world needs more hopeless romantics.
