Digital vs Real Love
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Love, the single most potent force in the universe. An emotion akin to a virus, completely distorting all logic. Coming and going as it pleases, more complex than time itself, yet somehow is able to cast a beautiful spell across the human population. The grand gestures, the small nuances and everything in between. Falling into love is the greatest curse of humankind, and yet we love doing it, blindly accepting our fate.
The modern world we live in has virtually codified love, it’s the norm to connect with a person online. You can see a picture of an attractive individual, contact them by simply sliding into their dm’s on Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat. Weeks later you’re chatting to each other as if you’re married, while you watch The Notebook together. You’re on your second virtual fight all the while having never met each other in person. Sounds a bit crazy if you ask me, maybe I’m an old soul that’s watched too many romantic films of a bygone era, but I have to ask.
How well can you know someone without meeting them?
It’s the eyes that are the window to the soul. They speak louder than words, express pain and pleasure, terror and tranquillity. Next time you facetime ‘bae’ you’re not watching her, you’re looking at pixels arranged to show you a real-time image of her. Remember that.
I’ve been in love once; it’s beyond description. Written language doesn’t do it justice. The sensation of butterflies and warmth rushing through my body made me almost giddy as I gazed into her brown eyes. It rewires the brain in a split second and shows a vividness of the world never before experienced. An energy that can make you disregard your problems and somehow feel calm within the storm. Yet, I let my first love slip through my fingers, the most beautiful woman I’d ever met in my life, a smile that could melt your heart but most of all, a genuine soul.
“Love isn’t just a feeling; it’s an art. And like any art, it takes not only inspiration but also a lot of work.” — Paulo Coelho
I was too proud to work on mine, stubborn and naive, but I know better now. When it’s stripped from you, by your own doing, it hurts like someone digging nails into your chest trying to pull your heart. The mistake haunts your dreams, your reality. You try to forget but instead, you find yourself becoming a nervous wreck. Despite the suffering, you revert to living amongst your memories, to be with them one more time. To gaze within those eyes and leave the world behind for a blissful moment, amongst the chaos of the mind.
We’re born into this world through love. Real, raw love. In this age, the digital world provides us with a great opportunity for our new, distant lives to stay connected. Digital-love can never replace Real-love. The subtleties that your soul needs first hand, isn’t an experience that our man-made love has the ability to cross, though it will try to.
The next time you find yourself in love. Remember, this emotion is the single most potent force in the universe. The only thing that we’re capable of perceiving that transcends time and space. Make sure you nurture her. Fuel her. Protect her. Create real-life experiences, your memories will be the only thing left when love decides to wilt. She’s our greatest asset, our greatest curse.