By: Michelle Pavlik
Falling in love is a beautiful, emotional experience. You go from looking out a cafe window, to looking into the eyes of “the one”. Is that attraction that you immediately feel towards the person considered love? Or is it just lust. Well, it's both. On the Disney perspective side of things, you can fall in love at first sight. The following will explain why people today, believe that love at first sight can be cured at a second glance. Love is defined as, “an intense feeling of deep affection”. Almost everyone has felt that at one point, right? Whether it be for a person, food, animal, or place, we all know that strong pull. Mary McMahon, writer for Thought Catalog, also believes in the idea of love at first sight. If you’ve ever questioned yourself if “it” was love at first sight, chances are... it was. Did you feel an intense attraction? That is after all what love is. As Mary McMahon puts it, “there is that intense, gut emotion you get when you see someone for the first time, that can be ever so telling as to where your relationship with them will take off” (McMahon 4). She explains that gut emotion (the “love”) is immediate, and you’re subconsciously thinking of your future with them. So really, you’re subconsciously falling in love, as Mary McMahon puts it. When it comes to love at first sight, it’s common for people to say, “It’s love at first sight until you take a second look”. It's not saying that the love you feel at first sight lasts, it's saying that it is in fact love. Aaron ben-Zeév, writer for Psychology Today, shows that the pull you feel to the person at first sight isn’t always just sexual attraction... it goes deeper than that emotionally. The question on whether the pull you immediately feel to the person, whether it is love or not, is explained by Mr. Ben-Zeév, “As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on” (Ben-Zeév 24). He interprets how you would have to work to improve it, since it wouldn’t start off perfect. In order to improve that immediate attraction, to actually build a permanent relationship with that person, you would have to put in the work to know them better in order to have a successful and healthy relationship. Everyone on Earth has seven other people that look like them in the world, according to genetic scientists. This prediction supports John Alex Clark’s proposal, that we “fall in love” with someone at first sight, not because of good looks, or sexual desires, but that your subconscious can remember a person from your past, creating that “pull”. Don’t understand? Let's look at it a different way. Have you ever not liked someone because they looked like, or had the same name as someone you didn’t like? It’s like that, but instead it subconsciously reminds you of someone you liked. That’s one way that Mr. Clark believes that people think that the first glimpse at the person, is what people relate to feeling in love. As John Alex Clark puts it, “The subconscious makes the opinion that because this new person looks like someone from your past that was good for you, this new person might be good for you too” (Clark 10). He tells how the “love” towards the person you feel from a glance, could be because of the familiar aroma you get. This is why the initial “love” you feel is “cured” from a second glance, when the familiarity faded down. It’s not that you didn’t feel the love, it’s that it didn’t last. All in all, love at first sight is real. Given, the attraction may not last, but that first immediate pull that you feel, is love. The mistake people most commonly make when debating whether falling in love at first sight can happen, is that they are thinking in terms of commitment. They assume if you fall in love at first sight, that it will stay that way. That you’ve found your significant other, and life will be perfect. When they realize the chances of having a perfect relationship like that aren’t common, they demote the chance of falling in love at first sight. The feeling you get is love, but it just might not last. But- at that split second, when your palms get sweaty, your heart beats faster, your eyes dilate, and you forget how to breath... that is love. The last thing to want to part with, is the opportunity to finding that “love at first sight”. Many love experts say, that you are more likely to fall in love, when you are looking for love, wanting love, or needing love. If you’re in a committed relationship already, chances are you won’t have eyes for anyone else. So in the end, the best way to find your “love at first sight” is to look for it, because it is real. Afterall, who wouldn’t like the idea that you could see your soulmate and just know it’s love? Works Cited Ben-Zeév, Aaron. "Is Love at First Sight Possible?" Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Clark, John Alex. "Love At First Sight - How It Happens (by John Alex Clark)." Sigmund - Karen Young. N.p., 03 Oct. 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. McMahon, Mary. "Love At First Sight Is Real And Here’s Why." Thought Catalog. Thought Catalog, 23 May 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.
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