Title: Do You Love Me?

Creator: Paige Gulley

Category: Mind

Creator Commentary:

This piece describes the thoughts that run through a young woman’s head when her boyfriend says “I love you” for the first time. As she struggles to decide whether or not to reciprocate the sentiment, she realizes that she has not shared her most intimate thoughts and feelings with him; in fact, that she does not feel that she can. She realizes that there are other people in her life who know her more intimately than her boyfriend does, and that her feeling that she cannot share her innermost thoughts with him prevents her from being happy in the relationship. Ultimately, she also realizes that, because he does not know her intimately, her boyfriend is not in love with the person she actually is, but the person he thinks she is.

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Creator Bio:

Paige Gulley is currently in her final year as an undergraduate at Chapman University. Her love of reading led her to her current job at a public library, but it is her love of languages and cultures that motivate her academic studies. Paige will be pursuing a Master’s in War and Society at Chapman University next year, and then hopes to continue her studies in the field of postcolonial studies. No matter where her life takes her, she intends to live a life of ubuntu, always recognizing the humanity in others and acting accordingly.