by Isabelle Jia
Everyone wants to be loved. For high schoolers, it’s all about being in a “relationship” with someone, but what people often fail to see is that there are more ways to find love than just being in a relationship. While having that special partner is certainly one way, having friends, family, or even (in extreme cases) a dog can mean finding that love that you may be looking for.
From a partner, you would be able to experience the “good morning” and “sweet dreams” text messages or the flirtatious “no, you hang up first” nonsense. You’d have the joy of holding hands in public without dirty looks because the community would know that you are each others’ and for a brief moment, there isn’t anything that will separate you from the other.
A friend would provide you with loud laughing, smiling, and talking without the judgement of others because let’s be clear: you two are “just friends.” Perhaps, that phrase is only used if a girl is friends with a boy, or a boy to a girl, but maybe there will be a slight chance of the cliche Nicholas Sparks ending of a best friend turned to lover relationship between the two of you. If you are in a same sex friendship, no one looks at you because we accept it as “okay.”
From family you will gain support. Being around people who will be there for you, through thick and thin, will be able to help you build yourself up and allow you to rest your head against their shoulder if you’re tired. It doesn’t matter if your family is made up of one or ten people- it’s all the same.
From a dog, you’ll get endless kisses and a cuddle buddy. You can run around playing fetch, throwing your stress and worries away. Right now, this might just be what we all need.
Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone craves it, but some won’t admit that truth, and so they desperately turn it into a lie. But which kind of love is the most important? What do we actually desperately need?
In my perspective, the one who means the most to me is a friend. He is “just friends” with me and I do not plan on pursuing a romantic relationship with him in the future. He accepts me as I am, and in my opinion, he’s more family than any of my biological family could ever be. This may seem selfish to people surrounding me, but I am not in love with my friend. I experience “good morning” and “sweet dream” text messages because he knows I’m not a morning person and I have trouble sleeping. I am able to laugh loudly, smile, and talk with him without judgement because I am willing to tell him certain parts of my soul and he, me. I am completely supported, and we often end up talking about what we’d like to achieve in our future and who we want to become and who our idols are and how to be a better person in such a cruel and torn down world.
Of course it’s important to have love, and we’d all like to have all these types of love, but we need to remember that it’s okay to have only a few of these. As long as you have someone or something to give you strength and support, then you will be just fine. You don’t need a boyfriend if you have a loving family, and you don’t need a dog if you have friends who care for you.
