The moral of the story is this: you can’t make moments. You can’t orchestrate authenticity or plan purity. Moments happen. An innocent text message or an offhand comment at a coffee shop. A hand on the small of your back, a burst of spontaneous laughter, a roll of the eyes.
I’ve never been one for grand gestures. The elaborate engagement story, the unnecessary birthday celebration, the expensive gift; none of this has ever really made sense to me. It always seems fake; put on for appearances rather than honest appreciation. Contrived and forced, a choreographed expression of gratitude, or a falsified display of emotion, these sweeping gestures are always built on a foundation of impossible expectations.
I have explained it like this to others. It’s a lot like a storm coming in. You can’t stop it from happening, but you just hope you make it through it okay. There’s usually nothing that causes it, so it’s not easy to “fix” so to speak. I think it’s different for everyone and affects everyone differently.