Aren’t they cute? Those pictures of a woman with long, beautiful hair gazing out over a scenic view as she pulls her significant other along. They are truly beautiful photos, but I believe they are beginning to have a negative impact on the young people searching for love. As popular and creative as those pictures are (kudos to the photographer, your girlfriend is hot), I’m over them.
“Relationship goals” is a trend that has completely invaded all social media platforms, but more specifically, Twitter. Photos of super thin, attractive couples with great hair, perfect makeup and flawless bone structure are thrown at people everywhere they look. Believe it or not, your relationship does not have to look like that. I know mine doesn’t.
Those pictures you see plastered all over the internet, the stylized ones of the woman with long beautiful hair pulling her boyfriend towards whatever awesome experience they are about to partake in, they should not be the standard for a relationship. Granted, it would be totally awesome to have the ability to travel the world with the love of your life and document it, but that’s unfortnately unrealistic for many.
Those popular photos are part of a photography series, shot by Murad Osmann, called “Follow Me.” Osmann is a cultural photographer that gets paid to fly around the world and take artsy pictures. The series was featured on several websites back in 2013. Osmann’s girlfriend, now wife, is not just your run-of-the-mill beautiful woman, she’s a freaking model. So they’re already out of the league of so many of us. I know they’re out of my league, that’s for damn sure.
For everybody sharing those pictures with a series of obnoxious emojis, please lay off just a touch. Not everybody will have the opportunity that the Osmanns have, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I don't say this to crush your dreams of romantic world travel, but please don't have the perception that everyone else is going to do it, because they’re not. That might be relationship goals for some, but not for all. My relationship goal is coming home to my significant other every night, talking about our days and maybe having a glass of wine. It doesn’t have to be as extravagant as crossing a rope bridge in Thailand while wearing a silk gown.
It also doesn’t have to be those couples wearing matching Calvin Klein undies (I truly do not understand the obsession) and lounging around the house while also having perfectly contoured makeup and bodies chiseled to perfection. These should not be relationship goals.
The word goal means, “the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.” You know what a relationship goal should be? A relationship goal should be what you want every single day of your life with your significant other. Yes, there can be vacations, experiences and memories that you want to make together outside of your normal everyday lives, but you should be happy every single day when you come home to them, and you should never take them for granted.
Each day is a gift when you have someone you love, and that is exceedingly difficult to find for the millennial generation. Social media has complicated the singularity of a relationship extremely. Now it’s telling you what your relationship should look like after you find one? Love shouldn’t have to conform to any external standards. No one’s relationship is as beautiful as the pictures you see on the computer, but no one else can see the beauty of the relationship behind closed doors. Some things are best kept private, that’s what establishes an unbreakable bond between two people.
Love is more than a hashtag and we should treat it as such.
