And Love was in the Air... A Post-Valentine's Day Post

It seems everyone else has taken advantage of the moment of Valentine's Day to talk about relationships or lack there of, so I want to be in with the crowd. I've been wondering about relationships a lot these days and whether people can really, truly be happy in them. In my African American Studies course we're reading Maud Martha, in which Maud has a plain and simple marriage with Paul. Their marriage is nothing grand, but they both do things that they think the other likes. In the end, whatever they do is never really what the other wants and the whole marriage is rather gray, sad, and bleak. Is it a relationship of convienience? Or is it the normal thing? I really don't know, but it seems that lack of communication is the biggest problem. The second biggest problem is that no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot know another person enough to try to please them (which is why communication is so key--that's what let's the other person know the other wants).

And love... When are you in love? Is it when your heart flutters at the thought of someone, or is it when you feel comfortable with someone, or does love happen when you say it so many times that you believe it to be true, even though you don't remember what made you say it in the first place? Then there's the question of feeling loved. I fall in love with those who love me. I've never gone out of my way looking for love where it might not be--that would be too disappointing (well, truthfully, there were about two times I did do so). I move wherever that whim of love might be, only to suddenly have the feeling that this thing, Love, was a trick and that I need to run away.

So, I run away, feel lonely for a few days and find a new love whim. My heart races again. My thoughts are highly focused on my new whim. I feel happy more of the time. The change feels good. And sooner or later, I realize I have no idea how I got to where I am, question reality's puzzling mysteries, and run.

Yes, I'm a runner. The monotony that develops in love bores me to run to the next exciting adventure. I think this is how I face most aspects of life. Interesting. Curious. Confusing. Leaving me frustrated.

Love! What is it good for?