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You could say this was an independent love song
It’s nothing like to us what love meant to them
But, that’s not to say the love we have isn’t big or that strong
I’m doing it a different way

Scarlet wrote that gorgeous song in the 90s and I was reminded of it again recently. My cousin put a meme up on Facebook. Slightly cynical, it’s just a throwaway remark, more an attack on the modern world than the nature of love and relationships themselves.

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But I immediately jumped on it and began a rant about love and relationships today:

Relationships are better now, because we know a huge amount about our potential partners before we even meet them in person. Because women are no longer just expected to settle down and pop out some kids. Because when relationships do fail, it is easier to leave. Because where there is abuse, there are better resources available to help the victims. Because relationships are available to all people, not just those that conservative society deemed acceptable. Because when things do work, they are as amazing as they ever were in the past. Old people, past generations, they do not have a monopoly on love. And just because we don’t do things the way they did, doesn’t make us wrong.

Maybe, in general, relationships are harder these days. Maybe it’s because we expect more of each other and hold ourselves in higher esteem, because we know we can strive for great things not just the basic restraints society dictates. But jealousy has always been there. Trust still needs to be earned. Hurt is natural; it helps us grow and discover what we truly need in our lives. ?

I have loved and I have loved well in my life. And it’s easy to be cynical about it all. Love can be fleeting and temporary, it can hurt you so badly, irreparably. But it’s worth it. It’s worth constantly striving for it.