BENGALURU: Among the dozens and dozens of the Christmas- New Year-themed shows that OTT platforms have brought out in the last few weeks, many share a common thread of hope and renewal. That is, after all, the message of the season.
One of them has a couple that seems to be losing themselves through the year, and as they come close to the countdown for 2023, (and yes, it was already the new year for these shows in November,) the couple recollect how they would always spend New Year’s Eve together, and typical for these shows, they rush about, barely making it to be together and apologise to each other. Then, they make resolutions together, ending it with this one statement – “I will love you more this new year and better.”
The aww factor of the typical romantic comedy aside, it makes one wonder – what if one really makes such a resolution with one’s loved one to love each other more and better each year?
Living in relationships is tough. There is so much that can happen to derail one’s love for the other. Work happens, and if not that, there’s always so many other things – health, family, politics, economy, and now, even the climate. All these stressors and one might want to just shut them all out, and another wants to fight it and get it all out.
As the years go by, people in relationships often end up accepting a minimum standard of togetherness as if it were the maximum love one can get. It does become really difficult to stay in a state of love with each other, let alone love each more. We compare ourselves to parents and others in generations before us, and tell ourselves we aren’t entitled to much more than that and don’t aim for more for ourselves even if it were possible. It is such a struggle to maintain any love one felt, and how can one even dream even to love each other better in such a difficult world?
Maybe that’s why, as we come to end a year and begin a new one afresh, we need to remind each other to love each other more - not less.
One of the greatest sadnesses in life is when we let love wither, shrivel away like how a plump grape does into a raisin, and we let that happen without even being conscious that we let it happen. The year 2022 seems to have passed by so fast – maybe it was because this was the first year after all the pain and angst that was Covid-19, and here we are, entering 2023 with rumbles of another wave possibly rolling in, seeing how China is struggling right now.
The thought of more time spent in a pandemic, the lockdowns, the fear of illness and loss – it sends shivers down our spines, and hopefully, whether it is the new year or the fears of another wave of the pandemic, may we keep our loves closer, and promise ourselves to love each other more – and better.