Why We All Need To Love Like Beauty And The Beast

Here’s the classic love-at-first-sight scenario: you catch someone’s eye from across the room and suddenly the earth stops spinning and no one and nothing else exists. That person is just so damn beautiful. But is love-at-first-sight even a real thing? Love can’t possibly exist between two people when they don’t even know one another. And what about that magnetic pull that doesn’t come from finding someone physically attractive? Isn’t that what love really entails? Yet we still believe in this far-fetched idea that we’ll bump into our prince or princess and know he/she’s the ‘one’ just with a glance. We still hang on to physical attraction, make it more important than anything else.

But what about this ‘true love’ idea? You know, the real-deal type of love. The Beauty and the Beast love: the way Belle falls for what’s on the inside, the way Belle values the relationship she has with Beast. That’s what love is.

Could you marry someone solely based on his or her personality? If they looked the way the Beast did, would you still fall in love? That’s the point – a majority of people would answer no to that question. It’s sad, but true. The whole ‘Beauty and the Beast’ type love could never exist in today’s society.

We are so focused on looks and physical appearances that we don’t even take the chance to sit down and get to know someone unless they are appealing to the eye. This is why so many people don’t believe in love anymore, because it is pushed aside and replaced by finding the highly-desired heartthrob. But love isn’t about finding someone who’s model material. It’s about finding someone who lights that spark inside of us.

What if your soulmate was the Beast? And what if you were told that someday you’d marry this Beast? Disappointment, right? At least a little. (Okay, maybe a lot). But get over it, and accept the fact that your soul-mate is someone that you have a deep connection to, someone that no matter what you’re doing, you want to do it together, and someone who brings you extreme joy just by looking at you.

You should fall in love with someone that would be totally down to do whatever crazy adventure you have planned, whether it be staying up until 3 a.m. sitting on the kitchen floor talking about your biggest dreams and fears, or someone who will suddenly grab you and dance when a catchy song comes on, ignoring the cars beeping furiously around you, and just swaying to the music, holding you close.

Or maybe it’s someone who knows how to cook pancakes without burning them. Or someone you can just have great conversations with. Maybe it’s someone who enjoys painting on a rainy day as much as you do, or someone who wants to listen to an orchestra every Saturday night. But most importantly, it’s someone who enhances your strengths and reassures you during tough times. It’s someone who makes you a better version of you.

The thing is, this world is full of narcissism. It’s a world that doesn’t look beyond physical appearances. It’s a world where a story like Beauty and the Beast is a true fairy tale because we are surrounded by thoughts that marrying a Beast is seen as an act of charity and not true love. Physical attraction has become a curse. It blinds us and takes us away from the true connection and magnetic force that is love.

Society is a pair of glasses that doesn’t even work properly. We’ve all been prescribed the wrong prescription. None of us can see clearly anymore. But there’s more than meets the eye (excuse the pun). Our eyes are so strong that they can see into the soul, and they can break the barrier of looks. We need to strive for eyes like Belle’s–eyes that can see the inside and not the outside, eyes that look for true love and not the perfectly symmetrical face.