The other day I was on YouTube and I came across a video about a singer I listen to, Joseph O’Brien. It was from 2018 and he was auditioning for America’s Got Talent. The judges asked if he had brought anyone with him and he said no. They asked if he had a girlfriend or wife back home and he said no.

Guess what?

The judges were dumbfounded. Joseph was twenty years old and they learned that he had never kissed anyone or gone on a legit date before. What really made me annoyed was the sad ‘awww’s from the audience and the judges. The camera even showed two girls who touched their chest in a ‘bless yer heart’ kind of way. The title of the video was even ‘Joseph O’Brien 20 y/o Never Kissed or Never Dated sings ‘Hello.’”

Y’all. He’s not saying he’s sad, he’s saying that he’s never gone on a date or kissed anyone. Joseph didn’t necessarily express remorse or regret, if anything, he seemed okay and said, “The opportunity just hasn’t come yet!”

This video made me fully realize just how dating and relationship-centered our world is. We have made everything about dating and marriage—things that people think they can only do with a date are totally doable with friends, right?

Like I said in my post about not wasting your singleness, we need to focus more on the people around us instead of our day-dreamed imaginary boyfriend or girlfriend. It’s not bad to want a partner to spend your time with, but that should not be the focus of our world, right?

I think that with the effects of social media in place as well, we’ve decided that romantic relationships are the best relationships. We’ve even gone so far as to make AI boyfriends and girlfriends! Because of our world’s thirst for a Instagram-worthy relationship, we’ve decided to take it into our own hands and create fake people, fake relationships, to satisfy our desires and longing for intimacy.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that my relationships work out better when not forced. And dating these days sounds pretty forced:

1. I have to date because my friends all have boyfriends or girlfriends.
2. I have to date to make my crush jealous so they’ll ask me out.
3. I have to date because I have nothing else to do.
4. I have to date because no one loves me, not even myself.
5. I have to date because they’ll help me find purpose and who I’m supposed to be.
6. I have to date because they’re my only chance at being popular and likable.

See what’s going on?!

Y’all, we can do better than this. I know we can.

So I leave you with this last piece: your worth is not defined by someone else’s love for you. And your worth is not made because of someone else, no matter what relationship it may be–romantic or platonic.

‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.’
Psalms 139:14 NIV

Have a great week!
~Willow <3

And here’s the video of Joseph O’Brien’s audition in case you were interested in watching that. 😉