Do we fall in love with the person or just our idea of them?
Love has a way of shifting what we think of as normal, bringing new meaning even to the smallest moments. Sometimes, though, love blurs the line between reality and the images we create in our minds. This is a reflection on what it means to truly know someone, and to wonder if we ever can.
Every now and then, I see how love can push the boundaries of what a normal life seems to be. A few nights ago, I saw a couple sleeping in a trailer, without a roof over their heads, yet they were together, still holding hands despite all the difficulties in life. After seeing them like that, the first person who came to mind was you.
I think I’m in love with you, but maybe it’s not you I fell in love with. Maybe it’s just the image of you in my mind. To love someone, you have to spend time with them. A couple of hours is just not enough. For that feeling to be real, you have to know, like, and be beside that person, noticing all the little things they do, how, when, and where they do them. All those small but meaningful details.
Perhaps I was wrong about my feelings toward you, and I squandered my time and life thinking about you. Maybe if I had gotten the chance to know you better, I would have realized that I don’t like you at all. Now, I can only guess what it might have been like if it were true. What if we are a perfect match for each other? Then what?
Maybe love is just a story we tell ourselves, or maybe it’s something that reveals itself in time.
Either way, it leaves us questioning what could be… and what might never be.
To be continued…
