Two strangers meet. Their eyes lock for a second longer than necessary. The world seems to pause , at least in their minds. Later, one of them will say, “I knew from that moment.” But did they really?
I have always been suspicious of love at first sight. Not because I don’t believe in love, but because I believe love is too complex to happen in a single glance. Love, as we know it, involves patience, understanding, compromise and sometimes even conflict. How can all that fit into three seconds of eye contact?
What people often describe as love at first sight feels more like recognition , not of the other person, but of a feeling inside themselves. It is attraction wrapped in imagination. In that instant, we do not see who the person truly is. We see who we hope they might be. We project qualities onto them. We fill in gaps with our own desires.
That does not mean the feeling is fake. It is real. The racing heart is real. The sudden nervousness is real. The sense of excitement is real. But real does not automatically mean love. It could simply be chemistry , that unpredictable spark between two people that biology and psychology conspire to create.
Movies and novels have not helped the situation. We have grown up watching stories where one look changes everything. The idea is seductive. It promises certainty in a world that is otherwise confusing. It tells us that love does not need effort , it just needs destiny. Who wouldn’t want that?
And yet, if we are honest, most lasting relationships are built, not stumbled upon. They grow through conversations, shared struggles, misunderstandings and forgiveness. They deepen with time. Love matures; it does not erupt fully formed.
Still, I hesitate to dismiss love at first sight entirely. Perhaps what people mean is not that love is complete in that moment, but that something begins there ,a quiet possibility. Maybe love at first sight is not love itself, but the invitation to discover it.
So does love at first sight really exist? Not in the way fairytales suggest. But the spark that pushes two strangers to become something more , that, I believe, is real. And sometimes, that spark is all love needs to begin.
