In an era of extreme cynicism, where sentiment and belief in true love and romance is fast vanishing, hopeless romantics are rare. But occasionally, we see them, gazing wistfully at the stars, or their noses buried in a book of poems, or crying over a romantic movie.
What Does It Mean To Be A Hopeless Romantic?
So, how does one define a hopeless romantic? A hopeless romantic is one who sees the world through rose-colored glasses, for whom the whole world is a collage of beauty and love, where love and romance are the ultimate goal to fight for. Remember the movie Notting Hill? Where bookstore owner Hugh Grant falls in love with movie star Julia Roberts and she actually loves him back? That’s a hopeless romantic example for you. Because in what world would a movie star be wandering around a bookstore, or reciprocate the owner’s love, cute though he was! A hopeless romantic will actually equate life with love and romance. Passion and love will engulf all their relationships, no matter how impractical it seems. To these dreamy souls, love seems like an art form and they are happily engrossed in it. With their keen sense of beauty, hopeless romantics often write poetry or prose, paint or sculpt. They believe in love that is possible beyond societal norms such as marriage. Even one-sided love is to them pure and beautiful, making you a better human being and giving your life new meaning.
6 Characteristics Of A Hopeless Romantic
Hopeless romantics don’t exactly walk around with a placard announcing themselves. Nor is there a literal shower of stardust or an orchestra playing when they walk in (much as they would love that!) But there are certain ways to identify a hopeless romantic, little character traits that give them away. So if you’re wondering, ‘How do you know you’re a hopeless romantic?’ here’s a little taste.
Hopeful, not hopeless
Contrary to their name, a hopeless romantic is not hopeless. In fact, they truly believe that there is hope for even the most hopeless cynic. Everyone, according to a hopeless romantic, has the potential to find true happiness and love in the world. If you’ve seen the movie Letters To Juliet, you’ll know what we mean. The characters go on a trip all the way across Italy to find an old love they thought was lost. And of course, they find him!
Wildly optimistic
The world could be exploding, the zombies could’ve shown up, but a hopeless romantic will be facing it all with a big smile. These folks are known for their optimism. When faced with obstacles in life, they’re the ones looking for the good in everything. Heck, they’ll probably be offering the zombies a plate of cookies and asking if they want milk to go with it.
Always idealistic
For a hopeless romantic, the ‘real’ world with its violence and cynicism is no place to be. These unicorn folks have their own little world, where everything is rosy and people are always nice to each other. Idealism is reflected in everything that a hopeless romantic does or says. They have idealistic notions about love, relationships and life, in general, and are perfectly happy about it.
Deeply empathetic
A hopeless romantic is empathetic and mindful in relationships. They feel deeply and can often pick up other people’s vibrations simply by being near them. They are truly of the opinion that love is enough to transform a bitter person into a happy person, that with enough love, the world can be changed.
All hearts and flowers
You know that emoji with hearts for eyes? That’s a hopeless romantic for you. When it comes to matters of the heart, they are ready to sacrifice everything, be anything you need them to be. They’re also easily hurt, since they pour their whole heart into a relationship and often end up getting less in return. A hopeless romantic in love is basically a walking, talking Nicholas Sparks book – think The Notebook and A Walk to Remember.
Highly creative
Remember in La La Land, when Emma Stone sings ‘ bring on the rebels, the ripples from pebbles, the painters, and poets, and plays’. That’s a hopeless romantic for you. These people are usually highly imaginative, creative and prefer living in their own fantasy world that they create, or their own reality. Maybe the gap between hopeless romantic and realist isn’t that wide – maybe their reality is just different. Now that we know the hopeless romantic meaning and characteristics, it is essential that we list the signs of a hopeless romantic as well. What kind of romantic are you? Read on. This will allow you to recognize, embrace and accept the hopeless romantic within you.
20 Signs You Are A Hopeless Romantic
Love is like the centre of the universe for a hopeless romantic. It is the basis of your life and relationships. According to you, love exudes idealism, virtue and beauty. Here are the 20 signs which will indicate that you are indeed a hopeless romantic and not a cynic when it comes to true love and romance.
1. Romcoms do not bore you
People might dismiss romantic comedies as silly and unrealistic. Not you. Being a hopeless romantic, you will have the ability to sit through even the craziest romcoms which make no sense to other people. Romcoms excite you and reaffirm the faith you have in eternal romance. Not only this, you will be known for remembering each and every scene and dialogue from a variety of romcoms. We are not surprised if Pretty Woman, Eat Pray Love, Runaway Bride, The Notebook are your favorite films. You’re probably also always imagining yourself as the characters in these movies.
2. Lyrics of a song mean a lot to you
Bring on the love songs! Your playlist will consist of songs which are really meaningful and deep because as a hopeless romantic you will give value to those songs with beautiful lyrics. Some of your favorite songs will be those that have been written especially for someone or describe intense love. We’ll wager that ‘Trouble’ by Halsey is on there, along with ‘Hello’ by Lionel Richie and some classics like ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.’ How did we know? We just did!
3. Inanimate objects are given equal importance in your life
You will probably ascribe feelings and personalities to inanimate objects around you like your mobile phone, your car, your pillow and so on. You will treat them with love and respect. This will seem crazy to others but it will be a normal thing for you. So you still have that autograph book from school, that first notebook your crush gave you, that first date subway ticket you had bought. You are a kind of hoarder, and your friends marvel at your ability to bring out those old hiking trip photos or one from the prom. After all, your heart is still very much a lovelorn teenager.
4. You have big fat plans for your wedding day
You might be single and might have no one in your life right now – but you will have elaborate plans for your wedding. You will constantly daydream about this big day in your life and how you can make it the most memorable day of your life. This dreaming shows you are a hopeless romantic and you might not have any clue when you will get married, but that doesn’t stop you from fantasizing about that grand day.
5. ‘Awww’ is your favorite word
The word that you use to express your emotions towards anything that makes your heart melt (and there are a lot!) like a cute dog or an unexpected sweet gesture is the word ‘awww’. You probably use ‘awww’ so many times that people around you actually get irritated and tell you to stop. But obviously, as a hopeless romantic, you have no intention of stopping.
6. You give weightage to grand gestures
You are of the opinion that it is through grand gestures of love and romance that one can truly express their feelings. So you expect your partner to express his/her love to you through grand gestures like proposing to you with your great, great grandmother’s ring or planning an elaborate date night to make you feel special. Sometimes you even get upset when your partner doesn’t go all out to show their feelings like you do.
7. Small things are also important to you
Yes, you love grand gestures, but you also adore small, thoughtful things. If your partner remembers your likes and dislikes and keeps them in mind, that is enough to make you feel loved and cared for. Little things like letting you watch your favorite program in peace or holding your hand in public matter a lot to you because they show that your partner loves you truly.
8. Other people’s happy relationships make you happy
How do you know if you’re a hopeless romantic? Even if you are not in a relationship, you are extremely happy for others who find their true love and have happy relationships. You truly celebrate them and their love and their lives together. For you, it’s just putting more love out there in the world, and that’s all you want. Happy love affairs just confirm the faith you have in relationships based on love and romance.
9. Friends turn to you for relationship advice
If your friends are finding it difficult to work through a relationship issue, they come to you for advice because of your optimistic nature. You give them hope that their relationship will survive the test of time. When it comes to relationships you are always positive. That is actually the difference between a hopeless romantic and a realist. A realist will tell you what you should do if a relationship goes wrong and a hopeless romantic will pray for you and always say that things would work out no matter what.
10. You love celebrating relationship milestones
Oh, how you love anniversaries and special days. Whether it is your first date anniversary, first kiss anniversary or first year anniversary – you just love remembering and celebrating these relationship milestones. These remind you of the bond and love that you share with your partner. You’ll spend ages thinking of the perfect gift or the perfect date to celebrate, and really make it special, because that’s just what you do.
11. A hopeless romantic is easily moved to tears
You are known for being a cry-baby in your friends’ circle. Emotional movies, touching short films or advertisements, sentimental serials, etc. are enough to make you cry. Even a kind gesture or word from someone can easily make you sentimental. You are a very emotional person. You are very attached to your parents, siblings, best friends and even colleagues. You get hurt easily and want to be part of their life always. You have to unlearn a lot in life to be able to have realistic relationships. This doesn’t mean you need to let go of all your dreams, just balance them out a little.
12. You may have unrealistic or high expectations from your relationship
Expectations that you have from your relationship will be inspired from the rom coms you watch and romantic novels you read. Such expectations are unrealistic and your relationship might not be able to fulfill those satisfactorily.
13. You get too attached to fictional characters
While watching movies or serials, you tend to get too attached to fictional characters because of which your life starts revolving around them. You may eventually fail to distinguish between fiction and reality due to your attachment. You may want to take a step back and assess if this is healthy or it’s affecting your life and relationships. Movie characters have their own place, of course, but it’s best to stick to what’s real and present.
14. Daydreaming is your favorite hobby
You daydream about everything that you will do with your soul mate, once you find him or her. Even if you find someone attractive, you will start daydreaming about the possibility of you two being together in the future, before you actually have a conversation with them or know anything about them.
15. You fail to express your feelings to your crush
If you have a crush on someone then you will fail to express your feelings, even though you have imagined several such scenarios in your mind. You will usually get tongue-tied if your crush is in front of you. Tends to happen when you dwell more in your head than real life.
16. Stalking your crush is your routine
You might not be able to get a word out in front of your crush, but you continuously keep a check on what your crush is doing, where he/she is going, etc. by visiting their social media profiles. Your day does not end until you like their pictures or comment something cute on those pictures. You are always looking at them on social media. It’s kind of obsessive.
17. Your friends know everything that happens on a date
You tend to share each and every detail about your date with your close friends so that you can make sense of what happened on the date. This is especially the case when you go out on a first date with someone new.
18. You do not believe in random hook-ups
True love is it for you. You’re not interested in flings as such, although to you, all love is equal. But you’re holding out for your Mr Right or Ms Right and you’re firmly convinced you’ll find them. So, you get into a relationship only when you feel that this person is the one for you. You do not believe in random hook-ups. You wouldn’t want to find your person on Tinder. You are rather old school and conventional.
19. You have immense faith in destiny and fate
As a hopeless romantic, you have faith in destiny and fate, because of which you keep checking your horoscope to see whether there is any mention of romance or love in your life. You definitely believe the universe has set love in your path and you will come upon it no matter what, as long as you have faith.
20. You religiously follow celebrity couples
Celebrity couples are your idols. So you follow them and their love lives religiously. Any news of breakups of your favorite couples surely upsets you a little. Chris Evans dating Lily James? You’re here for it. Tom Hiddleston with Zawe Ashton? Yes, please! Oh no, did they break up? Maybe you need a day off to mourn.
Is Being A Hopeless Romantic A Good Thing?
Now we’d like to see you with at least one foot on the ground so you don’t waft off into fantasy land. But let’s face it – a hopeless romantic is a believer who believes that love will eventually triumph and overcome all the unhappiness in the world. What could be wrong with that? Yes, it would be great if they learnt to differentiate between reality and fiction. With a proper balance of love in life, they will be able to find true love and survive in this cold world. But we need these sensitive, starry-eyed folks for their belief, their creativity, and their irresistible charm of character. So, here’s to you, hopeless romantics!
