Keep love real instead of using social media as a yardstick

I am 19, still single, and I'm beginning to wonder if relationships are overrated.

- Gabrielle Marie Sunderaj

A few years ago, I was befuddled by a friend's definition of modern-day romance.

"First, the initial attraction, which sparks a 'Talking Stage'. After that, you enter a 'Situationship'. Subsequently, if you want to, and only if, there's a possibility for a relationship with that person. Not until after a three-week trial relationship, however," she explained.

I did not understand the need for the free trial. What are we, Netflix?

To decode, the "Talking Stage", as the name implies, is a phase in which two interested parties communicate round-the-clock and unearth secrets about each other.

A "situationship" — now that's when things start to get serious or not at all. This determinant phase is essentially a relationship, but with no strings attached, when two people are only situationally together when it suits them.

To many of my generation, these stages chart the build-up to relationships.

For me, they reek of commitment issues, yet a desire for companionship. This tactical style of thinking when it comes to charting matters of the heart overcomplicates what should be a purely emotional pursuit.