falling in love is out of fashion

Love is beautiful, sure. But it has always fascinated me how quickly it swallows everything around it. People speak of it as if it were the destination rather than a detour, the point rather than a part. There is something unsettling about watching entire lives orbit around the hope of being loved.

For me, freedom > love every day of the week. And as much as people like to brag on about how love heals all and that love itself can feel like freedom, there is nothing more enjoyable than good old autonomy. No invisible strings, no unsaid feelings, no arguments, and most importantly, no responsibility. Now I know this can sound a bit slackish & deadbeat, but hear me out.

What I find weird isn't love itself. It's the amount of resources people are willing to allocate to it. This ominous obsession with love.

People talk about relationships as though they're inherently enriching, but why not direct all that affection, attention, patience, and care inward? Instead of splitting your energy between two people, you get to invest it entirely into one. Yourself. If I only have a finite amount of emotional energy, why shouldn't I spend it on making my own life more beautiful?

Then there's this whole idea of companionship. People speak about it as though one person is supposed to fulfill it entirely. Why?

Why is it so outrageous to want many meaningful connections instead of one permanent one?

Many friends. Many romantic interests. I've never understood why this is considered less meaningful.

Personally, every person I've ever been romantically involved with has taught me something. Every single one. By the time they're gone, they've altered me in some way. So why am I supposed to find one person and stop there?

Why is the ideal to remain attached to the same person indefinitely when there are countless people in the world from whom I could learn something entirely new? I know how this can come off as deeply unromantic, but I have always found the idea of experiencing many people far more exciting than dedicating myself to just one.

Not because I don't wish to commit, not because I'm scared of something, but simply because I want to experience everything life has to offer, and sadly, expecting that of one person is way too burdensome.