If you've ever experienced love that is returned, you'll realize that "unrequited love" is trivial and myopic. You cant do love by yourself.
this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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Showerthoughts
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Ugh. love is one of those things where is it real or is it something we just kinda imagine. I don't know if I know it but I can't describe what I feel for my wife except love. All the time I ask myself. What is love?!
Always remember when you dump someone: one day you will be the one getting dumped
Always remember when you fire someone: one day you will be the one getting fired
... and so on
As Pink Floyd put it : and I am you, and what I see is me
I understand where this is coming from, I think. Both are distinctly different and bittersweet in their own way.
I just don't think having experienced unrequited love from both sides fully encompasses knowing the full spectrum of love.
I have had about ten relationships in my life, and every single one of them was different in a meaningful way. Every person in your life is a wholly unique experience, whether it's unrequited love, a short-lived relationship or a deep friendship. I am an amalgamation of everyone I've ever known and loved, and I appreciate that this is what life gives me.
The more general thing is that all love relationships are unrequited to a degree. The unrequitedness is on a sliding scale from examples conventionally described as unrequited to anything where there is an asymmetry in the love which is most cases. Usually one partner will love the other more and I think this is by evolved design, it means that in significant disagreements the one that loves more will back down as they fear the loss of the relationship more. Unevenness of the shared love will allow the bond to maintain itself when more equally bonded partnerships would have broken.
And I think both are great opportunities to enrich this human experience, and should be fully savored, not avoided.
"I've looked at love from both sides now..."
Joni Mitchell has some amazing poetry in her songs.