Love Proprietorship:
A European acquaintance told me about his friend one time. Let’s call that friend C. C found out that his girlfriend cheated on him. Eventually he tracked down the other man.C confronted with “Why are you sleeping with my woman?”
To which the cheatee responded with “My friend, she is not your woman. She never was. She does not belong to you. She does not belong to me. She is free as a bird.”
The interesting and amusing statement still doesn’t justify cheatee and girlfriend’s terrible terrible misdeeds, yet I can’t deny that cheatee’s response hit a certain truth: nobody belongs to you.
Discomforting for this nation of conservative hopeless romantics, no doubt.
Mind Blowin' Eh?
Somebody's bitter. To give you a background about love locks, it’s this thing sweethearts do where they fix a padlock to a bridge, fence, gate, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Famed ones can found in tourist spots like Paris, Rome, Seoul. They’re not really difficult to replicate on any school chain link fence.Now about established couple-dom… I find ridiculous the idea that once two persons secured their relationship identity (on Facebook, on paper, etc), they think that that’s it. “You’re MINE.”
Breaking you up. In Bulk.
Lovelocks is an Oxymoron
A precious touristy to-do.Locks is naive. Locks is being the insufferable couple on social networks like you have something to prove. Locks is looking for your own awesomeness points in somebody else. Locks is the desperate need for company, any company, even if it’s bad/lame company. Locks is chasing butterflies and then…
Locks is yelling from the couch instead of talking to him/her face-to-face. Locks is one word answers, canned responses, not paying attention, being absorbed in your own phones. Locks is pooping without shutting the door. Locks is the need to be right. Locks is letting your bodily entropy win without a fight. Locks is sweat pants all the time. Locks is stinginess with dates and surprises.
Locks is possessiveness, obligation, and selfishness. Locks is mindless, unconscious, dull living.
Locks is getting lazy, thinking you’re guaranteed to be loved tomorrow, the day after that, and the following days after.
Don't You Dare Represent Love With A Fucking Lock
We are better than contracts or rituals. There is no safety or guarantee. Live with the possibility that you could lose him/her very soon to death or an above-mentioned unfaithful human. Cue panic, anxiety, and a great deal of sweating! Pretty much. Love can last 6 months,18 months, 5 years, 70 years. I’m not an expert. Maybe all I know is what I don’t want (read: Locks and everything it represents).I do think part of love is the freedom to walk away.
But listen, I’ll do my damn best to keep you interested today, tomorrow, the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after the day after that and so on…
Locks is stupid. How ’bout magnets?
Note from Des:
Jooley Shen lives on www.opiumtwin.com, when not modeling, she writes about her adulting, including but not limited to an interest (hers verging on obsession) we both share: hair. Go give her a shoutout for awesomeness!