Referencing from Williams Shakespeare story of Romeo & Juliet and E. L James's Fifty Shades Of Grey, one would say unequivocally that Love and it's Expression has come a long way. What is on the table?
Read on.
Love Between Couples
Looking at both stories from Shakespeare and E. L. James, there is an underlying tone on how love bind couples though, but over time, the concept of doing anything for love appears to have been overshadowed by the material things that come with loving someone.
A survey
Recently, a survey was carried out on Social Media and through personal interviews by a renown national newspaper The Guardian, using a small sample size of people of different demographics.
In the interview, the respondents in a poll of 399 participants were asked about their relationships and what Valentine's Day mean to them. Further question: Do you equate Valentine's Day with Love? The following results were recorded.
- On average, 75 percent of the respondents
believed that everyday is perfect for love. - 14.7percent agreed that it was for celebrating
love. - 4 percent equated the two terms when they
were in relationships. - 6.3 percent questioned "if love existed at all".
The Nigerian perspective
By the survey carried out, it was revealed how an average Nigerian feel about the perspective of love today versus how it was decades ago, especially with the introduction of social media and technology. There is every reason to believe that social media and technology has tremendously affected the concept and display of love with relationships (within couples).
World wide perception
Averagely, the world considers Valentine's Day as the most romantic day of the year with exchange of gifts for lovers. This is getting it wrong. But how did this old tradition originate?
A brief history
In the 1400s, an account describes St Valentine as a priest who was beheaded by Emperor Claudius the II for helping Christian couples wed a time when the Emperor has banned marriage as he thought single men make better soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he conducted marriages in secret. When the Emperor found out that it was true he threw him in jail and subsequently sentenced him to death.
Unfortunately, regardless of its origin, yearly on Valentine's Day, (February 14th) the objectivity of love overwhelmed the true essence of love in this era that people find it hard to separate love from the material things that come with special dates.
So what does love mean to an average person in the world, be they African, Asian or European?. Can Valentine be considered as a symbol of love* or it is just another way for capitalism to thrive?
Celebrating St Valentine
From the concept of marriage and family life, and as corroborated by majority of the respondents from the survey, many hold the belief that, although Valentine's Day may be recognized as a day to celebrate love, *love should be expressed with evey opportunity not just on a fixed day like Valentine's February14th.
A specialist on relationships, Elsie Godwin, says *"I am a hopeless romantic and I believe love is all about actions and expressions. If I'm in a relationship then I will initiate romantic gestures, no matter how small or big to reassure my partner of how fond of him I am. Further more he said "this mean that I do not need a special day to show him how much I love him"
Conclusion
In the end there is nothing more to life or there any?
This question taken from the words of Irish rock band, Snow Paul, has taken various forms over the years.
Times truly have changed and with the introduction of social media and technolog, the perception of love today is very different from the stories we hear from our grandpatents. Today, as with every other subject, young people find themselves under pressure, consciously or unconsciouly. This ought not to be.
May the Lord God who is the epitome of love and who established marriage based on love, rekindle this aspect of human endeavour so that this drift would be curbed.
From the desk of Udu Ben.
(Ardent lover of Steemit)