Ryan Orihood
Staff Writer
Contemporary media focuses heavily on the storybook romance, chronicling a couple’s journey to happily ever after set in motion by Cupid. With a boyish figure, diaper, and love arrows, these qualities could perhaps make for an unsatisfying love life. Cupid meddles in other people’s romances to satisfy his desires.
The storybook romance between two people begins with stares from across the room, complete with instantaneous love at first sight. With these first glances, Cupid intervenes and infuses his newfound victims with a confusing cocktail of attraction, happiness, and butterflies. This potion has strong, addictive powers, causing even the most stubborn person to succumb and fall into Cupid’s trap.
Continuing his control, Cupid keeps supplying his subjects with these positive, uplifting feelings. Each new moment in the relationship is another satisfying tally in his game of love. And each time, these first dates, kisses and other moments are so captivating there is no other choice but to fall deeper under Cupid’s spell, and commit to a relationship.
But at a certain point in the relationship, the love potion starts to wear off. This crash is worsened by Cupid’s decision to give up control of the relationship, letting the fate of the relationship fall into the hands of the couple.
Many things can happen when love’s potion starts to wear off. You might decide to compose a romantic piano ballad for your girlfriend, only to have her reject it and not appreciate the thought and the feelings behind the music. Or your boyfriend might decide to turn your relationship long distance. With these new experiences, your significant other morphs into a less desirable person, someone entirely different from the person he or she was when Cupid first began his game.
These are just a few of the things that can happen when Cupid backs away from a relationship and lets a couple control their destiny. Inevitably, relationships will change drastically and fights will soon ensue. These fights can be small or huge, easily repairable or detrimental to the wellbeing of the relationship. And somewhere Cupid is shaking his head in disappointment.
The breakup is mostly unavoidable now. This complete withdrawal from love is equipped with feelings of depression, loneliness and wishes to never fall in love again. Both partners are adversely affected by the relationship. Our girls turn into Carrie Bradshaws: corrupted women robbed of their naïveté, but just a little bit wiser than before the relationship. On the other hand, men are encouraged to hook up, experiment, and enjoy the single life. Society stresses that for men, a relationship is unnecessary as long as they can score.
And so our characters return to the beginning of the story: single. This Valentine’s Day, I find myself in this position. Usually, people squirm at the thought of spending Valentine’s Day alone. But what is never accounted for is the fact that love already exists in our lives. Love is in friendships and relationships with family. These instances of love tend to be more reliable, trusting, and emotionally fulfilling. Commemorating these loves on Valentine’s Day can be just as special. But if there’s no other bright side to this day as a single person, at least you can eat all the candy you want without anyone to judge you for it.