Love is beauty of the soul.

I write letters. Long love cards. I draw pictures and express my love that way. It's old school isn't it? Picking up a pen or pencil and pouring your heart out on that paper instead of walking into Hallmark and purchasing a card for $5.89?

These are the days where love has gone wireless with the current technology. Love happens over web-cams, phones, Twitter, Facebook and many other social media outlets. It's kinda great in the way that more and more people from different parts of the world can get together and go through a long distance relationship. But at this increasing rate of technology, personal and romantic relationships are suffering.

Text messages are more convenient than picking up the phone and experiencing the thrill of listening to your lover's voice. Secret late night romantic phone conversations under those blankets have turned into sexting. Whatever happened to pouring your heart out to your love. People are so careful about the things they say. They don't want you to know everything. They want you to know selective things and bury the rest in the dungeons of their heart. Whatever happened to honesty.

Whatever happened to the times guys used to drive to their girl's street just to see her standing in the window. It was valuable to get a sight of her. Technology has diminished face to face conversations and replaced them with texting. Arguing face to face doesn't happen. People fight on their phones and just hang up on the other person if they don't get their way. Feelings become a Facebook status. With the new coming age and technology, sex became easy and love became extremely scarce.

Jealousy has become a habit. Insecurities are a constant factor ruining relationships. Because you liked a person's picture on Instagram. Or because you commented on someone's Facebook status. Back in the day, people had real issues to argue about. Some of those reasons were religion, caste, creed, social or financial status, and war. These days, people argue for ridiculous reasons. They have everything in life that they could possibly want and take it for granted. But they still choose to be unhappy about something or the other. And technology is a main part of it.

Trust is non-existent. People hear you. But they don't listen. They hear you in order to reply, not in order to understand. Because social network can track your partner's every move, cheating and getting caught almost becomes a ritual. People tell others not to tag them in their 'check-in' so their boyfriend/girlfriend don't find out where they are and what they are doing. Dating is out of question. The meaning of a date becomes blurred with wild parties and sex. Romance is no where to be seen.

We have lost intimacy. We have replaced it by the convenience of technology. For example, how we freak out about someone's status posted online where they could have directed an underlying message to us. We don't call them and sort it out. We post something in a reply projected to them, also with an obvious but indirect message. Negativity takes over.

What happened to surprises? Courtship? On a Friday night, your man tells you... text me the names of the movies you wanna watch. What happened to thinking about your partner and the meeting? There are no discussions. People are not even friends in relationships. They are strangers. Whatever happened to drawing hearts on your notebook with your partner's names or initials? Am I the only one who is old school here? Whatever happened to asking your girlfriend's dad if she's allowed on a date and how late instead of complaining that you have not been given any freedom.

We are in a phase where none of this matters. There is no intimacy. There is no romance. We are just in relationships to show other people. We are in a generation that is hung up on achieving a 'boyfriend' but not achieving love. We confuse love with lust and romance with infatuation. Whatever happened to partners being each other's best friends. These days, partners don't even tell you anything about their lives. And when you tell them about yours, it seems to them that you are complaining.

I think we all need shrinks instead of boyfriends. At least they will have the time to listen to us and provide some advice. Yeah, the drawback is that you are paying them hourly. But it's better to waste money than your precious time and love on people who do not deserve it. I miss the way real romance used to be. I've experienced it and I know its value. Look at our parents and how they continue to be in real love with each other, even 30 years later. And here couples sit down within 8 months of their relationship, saying they are bored. Whatever happened to meeting up over a cup of coffee, looking into each other's eyes, smiling and talking their heart out.

Whatever happened to deep, meaningful conversations about your dream wedding, future home, dreams, aspirations, hopes and fears. Try telling a guy all this today and watch him use it against you at the worst time. Douchebag alert. Guys aren't trustworthy these days, and neither are some girls.

I always wanted to sit in a cafe and just talk. Without being told that I am ranting or venting. Communicating has become such a chore these days. Why is it such a massive effort to talk to each other without being judged? I wanna talk about my uncertainties, my weaknesses, my deepest secrets, career goals and everything else. Whom do you talk to if not your partner? But in this day and age, no one has the time for it. You are better off meeting a shrink, I tell ya.

I want the kind of love that used to exist, back in the day. I don't see it around any more. Whatever happened to old school love. That kind of love exists in my home, with my parents. They don't hide a thing from each other. They are each other's shadow. Nothing is hidden. Everything is all out in the open. When they fight, they don't use that against each other as a weapon. They are mature. Mature, being the operative word which many people aren't these days. I know people who are married but still living separate lives. Their finances are hidden. They live individual lives under one roof. That's not love. Not the kind I want anyway.

I am not criticizing the advancement of technology. I am just saying that it has replaced romance. In love, simplicity is the best. We need to do it the simple way. Just be who you are and be the best of friends. We need to go back to the old way of loving. Face-to-face interaction has its own value and that should not be diminished with texting. We need to express our feelings verbally rather than through a text message. We need to work towards having a healthy relationship. The goal of this post was to emphasize the importance of the true substance of a relationship, which we have somehow lost over time.