It's About the Hope

In response to my rant from yesterday, Mr. Smith felt compelled to guest post his take on the cynical romance topic.

 

 

This is not meant to be a point, counter-point. Perception is reality and if someone is a cynic, then that is his or her nature, and I would no more change that than try to make the sun rise in the west and set in the east. Life lessons are the forge upon which we are molded. No one is strictly a cynic or a hopeless romantic. If I meet someone who says they are, I will call them out and pick apart their reasoning. When someone says they are either, you have to get to the root cause. Often an early life experience sets the bar too high or creates an unrealistic expectation. Once the foundation is laid, it is an up-hill battle just to get to middle ground. 

 

In life, I am a cynic by nature. Maybe a combination of intelligence, cautious nature, and being royally fucked on numerous occasions gives me great reason for my cynicism. I have had employers fire me because I was owed outrageous bonuses for reaching what were supposed to be unobtainable goals. Girlfriends cheat on me, and I, in a moment of weakness, on one of them. Hell, just reading the daily paper can make you cynical. It is hard not to be a cynic when old flame after old flame has been married off.

 

Now having said everything I did in the last paragraph, I'm going to tell you why I am a hopeless romantic. Romance is not about the romantic comedy finale. When we try that in life, it feels cheap, cold and calculated. Being a hopeless romantic is taking the smallest thing in life with someone you love and cherishing them. It is about the hope, not the romance. A hopeless romantic still gets butterflies when speaking with an old love.  A hopeless romantic goes into each moment believing this is the time when the stars align and the world seems to right, despite everything wrong and all past experiences. To give up a chance at even the smallest chance is not a roll of the dice I'm willing to make.

 

 

P.S. Are you as madly in love with the line, "It is about the hope, not the romance" as I am? Genius!