It is my opinion that directs the topic at hand today: the debatable legitimacy of “love at first sight.” By definition, “love at first sight” describes a phenomenon in which two people develop the intense attraction known as love upon the first time laying eyes on one another. This expression is used throughout various famous literary works, film, and television, but whether or not this actually exists is still debated. On one hand, there are people in real life who claim to have fallen in love at first sight, but on the other, how does one experience an emotion as complex as love simply from a mere glance at someone they do not know? In this article, we will attempt to explore and break down the basis and argument behind “love at first sight.”

Love is, in one word, complex. It is a concept comparable to a rose, petals of contradicting feelings, all similar, yet different, bathed in blood-red hues, fused together by a single stem into a delicate, whole entity. So how might one, upon simply looking at somebody, fall in love? In my opinion, love is something that takes time. It is not based on appearance, it is not based on what you think someone may be like, it is not based on the color of their eyes or the consistency of their skin. Love is deep, something to be explored as one gets to know another better, over time. One might argue that a woman experiences love at first sight upon meeting her baby for the first time after giving birth. However, in order to give birth, a woman spends nine months with her baby beforehand, growing it, nurturing it, and feeding it. It is love at first sight, yes, but only because she has gotten to know the person for months before that.

In instances like, say, Romeo and Juliet, however, so-called “love at first sight” has many different aspects attributed to it. For one thing, love and attraction are often used as synonyms, when this is simply not true. The difference between love and attraction could be construed as the difference between life and death- you would not die for a person you are only attracted to, but for a person you love? Those experiencing this emotion would throw themselves in harm’s way without a second’s thought for those they love. Therefore, attraction at first sight may be something easily mistaken for love, but not quite it.

Another explanation may be age. When people are young and naive, the enormity of seriousness of love isn’t quite known to them. Young hearts are curious, looking for others’ to “love,” without quite knowing the true meaning of what it means to love. Immaturity may influence one’s idea of what love is in terms of the fact that younger people are blinded by my attraction and the desire to experience things like in movies, books, shows, etc. The truth is, teenagers are heavily influenced by unrealistic expectations as they haven’t been hit with the reality of life yet. Therefore, naive, young expectations and desires can simply be misconstrued as “love at first sight.”

Lastly, trauma can also be a factor. The lack of a father figure in one’s life is psychologically proven to induce an attraction in people that can provide the fatherless individuals with safety and security. The lack of a mother figure can do the same. On another note, whatever trauma an individual may have experienced as a child heavily influences the behavior they are attracted to- if in the moment of first sight, the individual is doing something familiar to something traumatic experiences may have been negated, “love at first sight” may be a result. Societal pressures, of course, only increase these mindsets.

To conclude, psychological and/or outside factors induce the romantic feelings many attribute to “love at first sight.” In my opinion, at least, this is just a fabrication of simple attraction without the depth that actual love displays. While there is nothing wrong with being attracted to someone, it is important to be able to differentiate between that and love in order to avoid being insensitive to those who actually love and to save oneself from potential heartbreak. Love is a beautiful thing, built on the backs of time and effort, journeys and conflicting feelings. Though the first glance can open the first chapter of a book, the depth comes through the flipping pages, story mountains of life, and the racing hearts and tribulations.