As human beings, when we fall into love, we search endlessly for symbols of it. We turn to the time-honored traditions thereof, roses, diamonds, candies and cards in an endless bid to find something, anything, that can fully express what we feel. We hope that, even if but for a fleeting moment, that something we hold can express what tomes of poetry and years and millenia of modern romance has never been able to touch.
This quest pushes us to do strange and desperate things. In such a commercialized society, we spend billions of dollars buying jewelry, gifts and trinkets in a bid to express our love. We spend countless paychecks, work second jobs and put untold amounts of strain on ourselves just to prove our feelings through material things.
The dirty secret of it all though is that love has no symbols. It is something that, by its very nature, defies all symbolism, especially with material possessions. The rich feel love no differently than the poor and the wealthy suffer no less from heartbreak than the destitute. Love does not discriminate on money and, in fact, tends to skip over those who rely on their finances to make their feelings known.
The only symbols of love are all elements of love, tiny glimpses into the emotion itself, mere glimmers of light reflected off of the sea of emotion. A tender kiss, a long goodbye, a heartfelt look, a content sigh and a soft touch are far more symbols of love than any diamond or flower ever could be.
For anyone with enough time or money can buy a rose or a diamond, only love can create those little moments that remind you how real it is. However, those who are living it often grow deaf to those special moments, especially as advertisers beat down their door with a more commercialized version of love.
Soon, love no longer feels like love and the quest for something timeless makes what's had look worn and gray. Because we obsess so much about expressing our love and focus so little on living it and cultivating it, it withers and dies. It's like talking to a flower while it's rotting away in darkness, love doesn't need to know how you feel, it just needs some light to let it grow.
So, if you have someone special, take some time tonight or soon, not to tell them how you feel, but to enjoy being in love, to be together, hold one another and just get caught up in the moment without a rose, a diamond or a word between you. Don't worry about what will become of it, don't even think about the future, the problems you two face or how you can express your feelings, enjoy the moment, enjoy that night.
Because, not only do we not know what tomorrow brings, but there are countless souls who can't share a moment like that. They either haven't found someone to love or are apart from them. No matter the reason though, it means you have to cherish your gift that much more and need to put that much more into it to make it grow.
Simply put, when you have a society so obsessed with money, the little things can easily be overlooked. We can not take them for granted and we must make them a priority. Because, no matter how quickly we look past them in our every day lives, the second they're gone, they leave a hole that can never truly be filled. For what was once held and ripped away can never be fully reclaimed- no matter how many times we move on, no matter how many years go by and no matter how many millions make.
It's a bitter fact of life, but one of the few that can easily be avoided if one is willing to work.
Agreed … Love is a precious thing. Doesn't matter how much you're showered w/ gifts or money, true love can never be bought.
i agree one hundred percent. infact, my lover and i almost never give eachother material gifts. when we we do, it's usually something that we made from scratch.
There is no such thing as love!!!
Its a figment of our imagination to console and make us feel better about ourselves in our darkest moments.
True. Most women dont want material things form men to show them they care, we just want you to spend time, holding us, wispering sweet nothings to us. And visa versa, What value does something hold if its gone when we pass on???
I Agree. Totally. In fact I Was Thinking Just last Night, What Is The Point of Having These Things if We Waste AOur Time Wondering, Instead Of Just Living The Moment? x
Seeing is believing. Demonstrations lend credibility. This is why I think everyone I've dated seriously has expressed extreme support for the not-so-gothic lyrics:
"We're living in a material world, and I am a material girl."
But then, love and lust are vastly different emotions. …I wonder which one is more underrated.
Hey good rant and this is very true well later
and good luck in life
Tiffany
Sadly I must agree with Madiha..love is just a figment of one's imagination. There is no such thing.
I want to say I really enjoyed this piece. As always. It is so good to hear someone who believes in love without materialistic attachments as symbols. One thing that always got me was Valentine's Day. As if there should be a day to express your love to someone when there are 364 other days to do so. And most of the time, it's celebrated with gifts of all kinds. Valentine's Day should just be another day like any other.
Thank You.
i agree 100% luv is something to b shown not by materials but actual emotion. thats wut ppl really want not diomonds, well i take that back greedy ppl want diomonds from luved ones, but ppl who believe in true luv shudnt. but thats just my thoughts. ^_^
Love is real,maybe you should find somebody that loves you 4real.Do that and then I dare you to say theres no such thing as love.
Trust me,I still have a once in a life time experiance.
P.s:Her name is Sarah.
To all those people who don't believe in love I ask why? I'm sorry to say it but intil recently i didnt believe in it either, 4 months ago i met my girlfriend and her and i are in love, we are content without gifts to each other and we just enjoy sitting there and just being together. Love is no single object, it is no spoken word, but love to people comes differently. I say to all thos who feel they have to buy gifts which are over expensive or are very grand have you not felt love, you do not need to know love top feel it but once you feel it you will find it.
sorry bout the long comment to those who have read it.
BELIEVE IN LOVE
By McIntyre
I don't know if there is something such as love. it seems to me only like a …thought. Let me explain – a thought as in "oh i love this person so much" but nothing more, i think it is just something that people want to beleive – my thought is not well said, though, in this post – it is only a short version of what i beleive of love. But on the other hand people seem to express this feeling …a feeling as if he/she can not be with his/her lover than he/she can no longer live or love again. i can't really write what i think of love but this is as close as my mind can get you right now. – rebekah
Good Rant, best one so far. Extremely true and it opened up my mind on that topic.
-Pierce
that's an awesome rant. i wish more people would rely on love of the heart instead of love of the objects. true love is something you cannot buy (some people realize that,but they refuse to accept it), and i totally agree with what you said. nice job raven.
Love is truly one of the easiest understood emotions, but if you try to understand it you condemn yourself to never truly feeling it because you expect it. To quote the song "Si vis amari", if you want to be loved love. Just feel the emotion. I truly do love your work Raven, it really captures emotions rather than representations.
you words have touched my heart
this is a really insporational comment and theroy on love……..i really injoyed reading it ………this can be thought as many things but not as well as this is writing…. ireally love the idea that this gives me…….
this be true. i love you.. you love me. we're a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you wont u say u love me to. LETS COOL THE DARK HATRED AND BECOME LOVING BUDDIES. KICK AWAY SATAN AND HELLO GOD! i love all of you on this website. truly and amazingly. all this reminds me of my lost women. so if there are any men intrested in… men. call me
wow…this is my first time here so i will just keep it short and say…well done.
I find that the only way to truly express love is to tell the person yourself. A shiny rock or green paper is nothing compared to a few words of truth about how you feel. I do find however, that a rather rare blood red rose picked from the wilderness and not a store, is the only symbol of love to me. And not beacuse of the rose itself but of what it means. I don't mean to give it as a gift to show your love. The beautiful flower, like beautiful love. The rareity of it, like the rarity of true love. The pain of the thorn when your love is gone. And the red tear of the petal as a silent tear appears on the cheek. I find that this rose often describes love although you can never describe love even if you have felt it for yourself. Nothing can show your love for another person but you.
Very well done as usual, Raven. But I must say something off the subject here…I am quite appalled at Kurt's post. Personally I thought that that post was very inconsiderate…because quite frankly he veered off the fact that he was posting for Raven…not himself. Ok, off the soapbox. Anyway, great job Raven, I admire your words deeply.
All I cam say is wow, u speak the truth Love is a feeling, not an item u can just toy around with until it dies. This is my first time hear and so far it is very interesting and unique. Love it.
Truly amazing and so true. Love in a feeling and a descision, not just a diamond on a ring or a dozen roses in a vase. True love comes in not leaving when things get their roughest. To see such a high divorce rate…It shows how many people are lost and have no idea what true love is…
This rant is so true finally some one knows the true meaning of love. It not about giving gifts or inapropeate touching it's about having some one that cares for you and that will love you till the day that you die some one that you can trust with you and you deepest secret some one that you can be open with and they will be open with you and you don't keep anything from them.
Hey Raven, I tried to print one of your poems but I couldn't … u think u can let me know how to do it …..P>D. I'm not trying to steal it …. it's just that I really love your work that I want to be able to see it on my wall and show it to all my people !!!!!!! YOU RULE!!!!
i read this a few months back and showed it to my lover, since then i belive our time together and our silences have been more understanding and valued if that makes any sence. I belive my lover felt compelled to buy me things to insure i still loved him but since he had read this he now understands material things dont mean anything. Thank you so much.
too true…too true…
wow this is very true my dad rtelies on matriel things for my stepmom all the time and he doesnt realizw that u dont have to buy things to make people happy…
dude…i just had a simalar experience in this. yesterday my significant other and i were chillaxing on my bed and we feel asleep in each others arms…no words were spoken…there was no need because our hearts beating as one said it all.
keep spreeding the truth and open peoples minds.
peace yo.