If the current trends within the Nigerian dating scene are anything to go by, then one can stand to reason that relationships have become lifeboats rather than the cruise ships everybody thinks they are.
People are no longer in the quest for love, it’s rather a grim rush for survival.
Relationships have become far more materialistic and cosmetic as opposed to their prior state of love, perseverance, commitment and companionship.
Relationships are becoming more toxic and parasitic as time edges on.
One wonders what happened to those gone times when relationships were based on mutualism or became commensalism at worst.
Therefore, there arises a question; is it wrong for an individual to seek and demand more than what love is willing and able to offer?
In an article, When What Comes Naturally Doesn’t Work, Professor Elisha asserts that individuals want more from their close relationships other than their merely continued existence.
This fact seems to be true given the current overwhelming trend of ‘sponsors’ and ‘slay queens’.
Safety, comfort and survival seem to be the key driving forces in relationships nowadays. True love and affection have become an opportunity cost that individuals don’t really care about or aren’t simply willing to comprehend.
However, the masses seem to have forgotten that relationships are a perpetual work-in-progress that demand both parties to lower their defences and expose themselves to hurt disappointments and heartbreaks.
Only by being vulnerable and human can any two partners achieve a deep and long-lasting connection.
As much as it is our primal instinct to survive, we first need to live and breathe. Loving is living.