It's that time of year again…

It’s that time of year again. And this time, things are going to be a bit different.

That’s right, it’s time for another Unrequited Love Awareness Week (ULAW), a week where I go on about the all too common phenomenon of people not liking you the way you like them.

I say that things are a bit different this time for two reasons. First, ULAW runs during the week before Valentine’s Day, not starting on Valentine’s Day. Second, I’ve gone through a bit of research regarding the phenomenon.

Let’s start with the media. Love, both ideals and fantasies regarding it, exist in the media. Music, TV shows, movies, etc. It’s everywhere.

Even in iTunes, there’s a Valentine’s Day section, listing off various titles categorized as “love stories.” Films like Casablanca, The Notebook, 13 Going On 30, A Walk to Remember, and many others. This week is not about any of that kind of story. There are numerous songs about love. One musician who essentially got thrust into the spotlight this past year is Taylor Swift, who released a single called “Love Story,” which compares a relationship to that of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

This week is not about songs like “Love Story” or movies like Casablanca. It’s more about songs like Taylor Swift’s other recent big song “You Belong with Me” and movies like (500) Days of Summer. Unrequited love is almost as universal as love itself.

I say “almost” because, well, one Halloween, I dressed up as unrequited love. It wasn’t much of a costume, it was just a picture of the two hearts, as you see them in the illustration accompanying this post, along with the label, “It stinks!” beneath it. I went to a Halloween party in this get-up, and as usual, people would ask me what I was. I was a bit surprised at the number of people who, upon my telling them that I was unrequited love, would reply, “What’s that?” Frankly, I am surprised that there is anyone in their mid- to late-20s who hasn’t heard of it. Perhaps many have experienced it, but didn’t know there was a name for it.

That’s the whole idea behind ULAW. Its intent is to make people aware of it, so that they recognize it when they themselves are unfortunate enough to be in the middle of it. Everyone will go through it at least once in their lives. Those who don’t are either extremely sheltered, or just plain “go buy a lottery ticket” lucky.


This… is Unrequited Love Awareness Week!