When I hear my parents or even grandparents recounting how they fell in love, I see a certain kind of innocence that’s dictated by first meetings, holding of hands, sending across letters through common friends and fighting with the world to be with each other. And when I think about all the years that they spent together and how they stuck with each other in times of happiness as well as sadness, it almost always puts a smile on my face. However, it also leaves a small part of me envious.

I am an average millennial but when it comes to romance, I’m what you call an old school romantic. I feel that love happens only in person. I believe that first dates should be all about long conversations and sparks.

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Cute gestures like buying your partner chocolate when they have a bad day or taking them to your favourite spot in the city as a way to let them into your life go a long way in making special memories. Talking through a fight or a misunderstanding instead of breaking up and moving on to the next person is what gives love real strength.

I believe that love comes with all the embellishments like the conveying of things through the eyes, long walks which are taken while holding hands and always feeling like something is missing when your special someone is not around.

But I also know that falling in love comes with the need of a lot of strength to make it through the tough times, to work through the issues that seem to be unsolvable and being there with your partner even if you can’t be with them physically.

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However, it's slightly difficult to survive in a world where the basic idea of love is now swiping right or left on a mobile app. I see my friends meeting people at a cafe, event or club and instead of seeing where it goes, they end up hooking up and never seeing each other again. Initially, when we were in college, it was about being ‘cool’ and experimenting but as time has progressed, it seems like being in such a phase has given people commitment issues.

Nobody wants to invest wholly in another person. They just want to meet, hookup, leave and repeat which really just means that the whole idea of unconditional love where feelings are genuine and the comfort of knowing that your partner is always there for you has been turned upside down.

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This warped idea of love means everything needs to be temporary. Nothing lasts very long and instead of leaving yourself vulnerable for the person you love, you protect yourself with everything you have. You don’t want to make any real memories and hence, real dates are not even needed when you can just get down to business. While I’m not opposed to the people who prefer the hooking up model instead of undying love because that’s their choice, all I’m saying is that it makes an old school romantic like me feel like it would be a real struggle to find true love in this lifetime.