L.O.V.E.

After spending my Christmas break in the Kirabati, and with the New Year well underway, I have had much free time to think on the use of ‘I love you.’

I feel that we throw the term ‘love’ around rather easily. I am guilty of it. I love shoes, boys, and myself.  However, when it really comes down to it, we should really only be using it in the Ivan Turgenev sense.

I mean not to be a Carrie Bradshaw and have a cry at a supposed ‘man-drought,’ or anything like that – reading one of my Christmas presents, a Rajasthan version of ‘Krishna and Radha’, made me realize that society has trivialised love, and taken the romance out of life.

Especially in Auckland, we have become blasé about how we should go about courting. Simply skulking around the Viaduct may do it for some – but this isn’t something that we should settle for. It needn’t be expensive, nor crazy – just thoughtful. Giselle from Disney’s Enchanted best describes it in the Oscar nominated song ‘How Does She Know?’ in which she describes way to make sure she [the girl] knows that you [the man] really loves her. ‘Take her out dancing, just so you can hold her close,’ or ‘dedicate a song with words meant just for her,’ literature offers such simple ways for us to express love – why don’t we use them?

My outlook of love may be overly romantic – Brokeback Mountain shows yet another way that romance can be transliterated to the real world: even by two burly men. Even if you can’t bring yourself to say it out loud, often actions – glances, smiles, momentary hand touches - speak louder than words.

It IS too easy to say ‘I love you’ – whether it be in passing, or disguised in ‘txt’ language. Save it for when you really mean it.

 

x Victoria