Love in today’s society is a many faced creature, it is darn near impossible to define it. However, Dr.Alvarez mentioned a few points that had never crossed my mind before. First, love is a social construct and is experienced in many different ways. Secondly, the image of love that is displayed in the media is very pervasive and kind of toxic. It makes people feel that if their love is not resembling the common view then it is not truly love. This is a problem that is slowly but surely being solved, yet I still feel it will never truly change. Lastly, love can lead to feelings of immense pain. Please excuse my language, but love can make you feel like sh#t that’s just been run over by a sixteen wheeler truck driven on a lonely empty road. The phrase love sucks doesn’t even come close to describing how badly love can mess up a person’s life.

On the plus side, this pain can lead to some truly beautiful poetry. Dr. Alvarez shared three pieces of poetry that were filled with pain but also filled with beauty. His own poem, really made me think about how to channel these painful feelings caused by love into something good. Usually, I just get really sad or angry which leads me to wanting to knock someone’s head off. I think I’ll find a new way to get over the pain, I’m no poet but I’m sure I can come up with something. All in all, this was a great event that adds to all I’ve learned from the events last semester that focused on love.