A Grimey Kinda Love

Barbies in a basket, originally uploaded by .Ariel.

It's time to get real this Valentines Day. Forget cards, flowers and dinner for two. Save your money, buy some condoms. You gotta treat everyday like it's Feb 14th cause love is not what is used to be. The emotion may be the same but not the conditions it is living under. Forget the body, although that's probably just as far up shit creek, but shouts to society and The Age Of Chaos. Under this theorem falls Chaos' cousin, technology, the internet definitely a top 5 contender for the 'who's to blame for the state of relationships' award. While not entirely pessimistic, with 14th Feb now upon us, it's as good as time as any to address the outdated ideals forced down our throats, not just by the laws of marketing but by expectations in everyday dating (*linking in youth speak). Where dating and relationships are concerned, we're still kidding ourselves into living by rules, manners, morals and expectations determined way, way back. This was in a time when young people didn't mail nude shots of themselves to 'friends' on msn, myspace or facepic, a time when temptations were fewer and promiscuity wasn't been thrust in our faces (pun intended), left right and centre. Ultimately It was a time when faithfulness, respect and fidelity were far more common place. Perhaps society and the age we live in would have been preferable in a past life, but we're living in the now. What we need to be readdressing is the way we are acting in and out of relationships, not just the way we present ourselves but how we deal with the consequences, problems and forces at work. Don't be governed by the way people around you are living, what you read in magazines, see in films or handed down expectations. Do you. And if you're going to do someone else, make sure you're doing it with dignity and pride.