A weekend full of pondering about love in the past, to now.

The cliche saying, “Love makes the world go round,” could not be more accurate. Since ancient times, love has been the main topic within our cave writings, myths, poems, plays, novels, lives, etc. Whether obvious or not, we all want to receive and give love. Even before language was created, love was “in the air.” We didn’t need to communicate it, because we felt it. It’s something we cannot deny--feelings. I question why many of us are afraid of those feelings, considering we all possess them. I also deny the gender stereotypes that men cannot show these feelings, and women can show them as much as they would like. This makes love much more complicated than needed. There should be a balance, and I know plenty of women who show no emotion, and plenty of men who show much.

It’s funny that technology seems to have made love harder to find within our world. People turn to dating websites and apps, because it makes them feel more comfortable and confident talking to someone from behind a phone or computer. True, in older times, lovers wrote poems and letters to one another, but they recited them orally to one another, pronouncing their love--not hiding it. Behind a computer you aren’t afraid to show affection in writing, and it seems easier. Yet, the idea of going on “dates” has seemed to be lost within that realm of technology, making many of my fellow peers feeling as though they will be single or “cat ladies” for eternity. We all make jokes about being single forever, yet are all terrified that statement might be true.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the wedding of a good friend. It seems that right when you think love is hard to find within your life, it smacks you in the chest. I have never given up on the idea of love. I’m a typical romantic, and am happy to be so. I like to think it gives me greater expectations for the man I marry one day. I hadn’t been to a wedding since I was a little girl. I only knew what I saw in the movies. But on that beautiful day in Charleston, S.C., I think the wedding truly gave me hope for our generation. It was amazing to see a man and woman say their vows to be true to each other until death. That’s a long time. Longer than I realized before that moment. If you listen to the vows, really listen, while hearing them in person and seeing the ceremony it is much more meaningful than those weddings in movies. They promise to love one another, cherish each other, and to “have and to hold” each other. To see them make that promise, then dance the night away, will always be something I hold on to. I am not afraid to admit that it only made me hope I had someone to love that much one day too.

I can honestly say I know people who claim they “don’t want to get married,” yet it is so obvious that they do. We are all afraid of commitment, but we are also all afraid of never receiving that commitment. Love is as old as time, and it’s my hope that it never stops. The “ticking” of our hearts should never be interrupted by technology, fads, etc. Love is so simple, but the more time passes, the harder we make it for ourselves. If the story of love is truly as old as time, it is my only hope that time will never stop. May we all find our commitment, our Prince Charming, our fairytale. It won’t be easy, but to back away from it would be ridiculous. Here’s to the future, knowing I won’t be a cat lady...because I don’t like cats.