Young Love

There is something about young love.

It's awkward and overwhelming. It's misdirected and random. It's superficial. It's unadulterated. It's also the truest form of genuine raw emotion.

We feel for our crushes without rhyme or reason. Many of us lack the ability to separate a crush and our newly discovered vice of lust from real love.

For young people run on emotion. They think with their hearts more than their heads. Some might argue they think with something esle but I digress. They are unencumbered by logic, games or caution. It is full speed ahead. At times, it is irrational Yet, it is beautiful for all of these reasons.

The joys of young love. The awkwardness and butterflies in your stomach when you think of her. Blushing for no apparent reason as she passes by and we look away. The overly dramatic response to a failed relationship or unrequited attraction. It may be overly dramatic but, at least there is passion. Wanting to be the smooth Rick Blaine or Rhett Butler as you try to muster up the words to sweep her off her feet and always falling short. For what does Hollywood know about real desire? It's not usually that smooth or easy.

We've all felt it. Your heart races faster and faster as you go to touch her arm, as though your heart was about to leap out of your chest. You hear nothing but her voice. Your body temperature rises and a warm anticipation envelopes your body.

We grow older. We mature. We live and we get hurt. We learn the rules and order of relationships and love. Through a variety of social rituals and experiences, we modify our behavior and adopt new expectations and behaviors.

Many of the treasures of young love are lost on us as we get older. We become too old to carve our names into a library desk or old, shady maple tree. We don't pass notes as we once did. Sharing bubble gum becomes "disgusting". The sweet innocent aspects of our youth pass us by. They are considered immature.

Maturity and adulthood threaten the romance of youth. We want to provide the finer things. Diamonds replace charms, Hallmark replaces the quickly, nervously scribbled note. Flowers at dinner replace a picnic in the garden. Confidence and self-respect replace pure, unfiltered, shameless want. Yet, the finer things aren't always the adult choices. That quickly scribbled note could be the finest gift indeed.

New relationships are like young love. There's the anticipation of that first kiss. The longing looks into each others eyes. Not knowing how the date will end, or really knowing how it will end but pretending to not know. But, it's really not the same. We are too insulated from previous experiences and lessons learned. Experience and scars have trumped more than one unbridled attempt at romance. The previous painful experiences outweigh the risks. We often only risk so much. Our boundaries prevent us from risking it all as we once did.

There are those who survive the trials of young love and grow together. As they grow so does their relationship. They are the high school or college sweat hearts who fostered their love throughout the years. Just remember, it all began as young love.