Why Does Love Make Us Run In Circles?

“Seasons change and our love went cold. Feed the flame ’cause we can’t let go. Run away, but we’re running in circles. Run away, run away. I dare you to do something. I’m waiting on you again. So I don’t take the blame. Run away, but we’re running in circles.”

Run away, run away, run away.

Post Malone’s latest hit, Circles, illuminates a fleeting relationship. The musician contemplates the risk of walking away from a relationship — specifically, the first verse touches on the subject of fading love, while the chorus tells a tale of two lovers failing to acknowledge the toxicity of their relationship. The second verse alludes to sex as a savior.

The song speaks to individuals who find themselves stuck in a constant cycle of breaking up and getting back together. An on-again, off-again, but never really off type of relationship. Though the two people love one another and want to be together, they cannot sustain a long-term relationship. Yet the couple always finds their way back to each other, despite obvious signs that show the relationship is deteriorating.

The song speaks to me. I’ve spent the past year running in circles.

I’ve spent the past year waiting for the ruthless riptides to pass, waiting to dance in the warm rays of sunshine along the calm sea. I’ve spent the past year waiting for a fire to ignite. I’ve spent the last year believing that there was something wrong with me because I had hopes of a stable love with a complicated lover. I’ve spent the last year holding on.

In his song, Post Malone ruminates a dying love. However, I’ve never quite understood the idea of dying love. By nature, I am a hopeless romantic — either you love someone or you don’t.

Scratch that. It’s not that I do not understand dying love, it’s simply that I don’t believe in it. 

I believe you love someone for a lifetime. The people we love leave an everlasting print on our hearts. Within time it fades, but it never disappears.

I believe some loves are worth fighting for.

I believe that two people who are in love are not always meant to be together.

And I believe we run in circles because we are so afraid of letting go of the person we love, even though we know deep down that it will never work.

Stop running in circles for a second. Stand in place.