The Anatomy of Being Alone

Its not about love, its not about rejection, it’s about not being lonely. It’s about having that one person to go to when you feel like nothing makes sense. It’s about having someone to share those moments that call for a drink—maybe even a hangover. It’s about strolling down the streets holding the hand of someone who cherishes you. It’s about having that person that laughs at your silly jokes, that tells you how pretty you look without make-up, that ditches his friends to spend the night with you, that listens to you—or at least pretends to. That is what we want. It has nothing to do with whether or not it is the right person or prince charming. It is not about how you met, or what games you had to play to catch them. It is not about love or about rejection; it is about not being lonely.
When you get that feeling that someone wants to be with you, a part of your heart fills up like an empty balloon fills up with air, and you forget everything else. You put aside your fear of getting hurt, your busy agenda, your so-called requirements… All you want is that rush that comes with the first date, the first kiss, the first night together… All you want is that feeling you get when your cell phone rings and it’s him. How your face changes without you even noticing and a smile finds its way into your expression. People wonder why is it that when it comes to love, none of us are immune to an act of stupidity, and regardless of who agrees with me, its as simple as this: we can’t stand being alone.

"Hey Mr. Einstein, You forgot one thing!"

With respect to romance, common perception dictates that one has to feign dislike or indifference in order to attract the object of his or her desire.  At best, this comes off as some kind of inherent acceptance of reverse psychology.  At worst, it’s an exercise in unnecessary complication.  It’s true that when it comes to love—or most things—human beings are complex, often nonsensical animals. Yet this complexity has given way to the invention of so many things in order to simplify life. Everyday you wake up to a new product created to minimize the amount of energy spent on daily activities. The fact that we are able to put food in a microwave and have it cooked in a matter of minutes or we can send someone in China a bucket of roses with a click indicates the extent to which human beings have gone in order to make life simple.

When it comes to love, it is a whole different story. For centuries, philosophers, poets, and great minds have pondered on the subject only to reach one common denominator— which is pretty obvious to all of us: love is a complicated thing. Despite the extensive analyses, no one has been able to simplify this feeling and make it less emotionally exhausting. So you ask yourself, how is it that you can manage your bank accounts thousands of miles away from the actual bank yet find it impossible to hold a relationship for a month? Could it be that we have spent all our energy simplifying other things to avoid having to find a way to simplify the complexity of love? Or is it that because we have spent so much time creating all these gadgets we have forgotten to spend time trying to find a simple way to handle love?