What is ‘Love at First Sight’?

If you’re single and looking for love… Are concepts like ‘love at first sight’ and ‘the one’ putting pressure on your dating experience?

By Emily Heart

Is ‘love at first sight’ real, and could it happen to you? If you are hoping to experience this age-old phenomenon while dating, read on to find out more about what it means and how to tell if you might have experienced love at first sight when you first met your dating partner, and whether you should even aim for lightning bolts when dating or simply relax and go with the flow.

Where does the idea of ‘love at first sight’ come from?

The concept of ‘love at first sight’ is thought to have originated in the classical world, where it meant an intense, passionate love delivered by the mythological character Cupid and his arrows when a person beheld the object of their affections for the first time. The Greeks described it as ‘madness from the gods’, and also came up with the idea of ‘love sickness’, a feeling of overwhelming longing and desire, arising when one of Cupid’s arrows pierces the heart.

What we believe now

These days, while we may not imagine Cupid to be so intimately involved in our choice of dating partners, many of us still hold true to romantic ideas of ‘the one‘ – the idea that there is one perfect partner for everyone – and to the notion that for some people it is clear who this one perfect partner is from the moment they set eyes on them. But are these concepts based in reality or are they just wishful thinking, and how helpful are they when it comes to navigating today’s dating scene?

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March 2, 2010 by adavenport  

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