The author argues that love in modern society has been overused and depleted of its true meaning. The use of the term to describe positive feelings towards anything has reduced it to a term of endearment. Hook aims to define the true meaning of love. She first asserts that love is more of a verb than a noun. While love begins as a feeling, acting upon that feeling validates those emotions.
The value of love needs to be standardized, so it can retain its notoriety. In modern society, most people perceive love as a feeling to be expressed and not to be maintained through vigorous actions. This is probably one of the reasons as to why romanticism has faded and the traditional sense of love is no longer upheld. Attaining true love requires great patience and commitment, but nowadays, people prefer flexibility and ease of promiscuity. Pursuing true love eventually leads to spiritual growth, as opposed to the draining and emptiness of casual relationships.
Modern ideologies like gender equality movements have introduced new challenges for couples to tackle. This has led many people to limit their love expression in fear that their advances might be unrequited or misunderstood. The fear of rejection has incapacitated so many people from being open about their true feelings. People have become more guarded, unable to revel in the ecstasy of love without feeling the need to lie and appear perfect. All hope is not lost, and the first step to achieving true love begins with honesty.
