Some of the most popular romance stories feature one-sided love. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby hopelessly awaits Daisy to return to him. The Roman mythological epoch of Echo and Narcissus told one of the first stories of unrequited love. In The Notebook, Noah chases Allie for years, even through an engagement, until she comes back to him. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel falls in love with the prince while he doesn’t know she exists.
Although love is a popular media & entertainment topic, unrequited love is also prominent because it’s a powerful pain felt by many. You’re one of the lucky ones if you’re never loved and haven’t been loved in return. Or is there another perspective?
The Good: On one hand, the lover’s feelings can seem as more genuine because it’s much harder to love someone that doesn’t love you back. Sometimes it takes one side a little longer to fall in love. It takes courage to love someone who doesn’t love you back.
The Bad & The Ugly: One the other hand, it’s hard to tell if they really love you or if they just want what they can’t have? Is it just infatuation?
Love is a complex human emotion that we’ll never be able to fully understand. There is no shared definition of love. There is no agreed upon interpretation of what love looks and feels like. A love relationship can start off mutual and fade into one-sided love. Does that mean it wasn’t true to begin with? I don’t think so. One-sided love can blossom into a beautiful, mutually-loving relationship. Crazier things have happened in this world.
So what’s the verdict on one-sided love? Can it lead to true love? Is it genuine love to begin with? Can there be a light at the end of the tunnel for both parties? Can love fade into one-sided love?
E.L. Jayne’s poetry blog can be found at http://www.poemsandprose.travel.blog