How do you feel about secret admirers?
Ah man, I wish we’d had this prompt for last Friday! Secret admirers always seem to come out of the woodwork around Valentine’s Day. I get that sometimes “secret admirer” gets a bad rap, but honestly? We’ve all secretly admired someone for something at least once in our lives. We do it all the time.
There are any number of reasons to keep our admiration a secret. Maybe we’re shy and don’t want to approach the target of our admiration. Maybe we’re not in the right place mentally to make it known. Maybe it would put a burden on them to learn of our admiration, and we’re trying to be considerate of their feelings because we care so much for them. Maybe they’re our hated rival and they have a skill or a trait we admire but we can’t very well TELL them so because it would mean admitting they are better than us in some way.
Personally, I think we should tell people why we admire them. No more secret admirers. In 2020 we send all positive vibes towards other people. Think that girl has a beautiful singing voice? You tell her! That boy has a sweet haircut? Let him know! That nonbinary friend is really good at the sport you’ve been trying to get better at? Ask them for pointers! Tell. People. What. You. Love. About. Them.
If we all did this, eventually it would just become second nature and everyone would constantly be lifting everyone else up. There would be so much positivity going around. The more you see the beauty in other people, the easier it is to see it in yourself, which makes it easier to see in other people, and so on and so on. A positive feedback loop!
Of course, no one owes you reciprocation either. We’re not going to be going around telling everyone what we love about them expecting them to tell us something in return. It’d be lovely, and that would be the end goal in this ideal scenario, but these things can’t be forced. What’s not okay is forcing your admiration on someone and then demanding admiration back. Your admiration for a person does not entitle you to any part of them.
I know I’m harping on “admiration” in general here, when the term “secret admirer” usually refers to a person who sends anonymous gifts and love letters to the target of their affection but listen. Secret Admirers don’t always have to be about love and crushes. Secret Admirers can come from anywhere, can admire anything, and they don’t need to stay a secret!
As an aside, and from a writing standpoint, I am absolutely a sucker for a good secret admirer romance plot. WHO ARE THEY? WHY DO THEY LOVE THE MC? It’s right up there with slow burns for me. I do NOT like them in horror or suspense plots. WHO ARE THEY? WHY ARE THEY TORMENTING THE POOR MC? The line between admirer and stalker is very thin. Don’t cross over, folks.
Ok, three prompts, three silly essays to get us through the week. I am so stoked for this weekend, you guys. I need a vacation, like a real week-long vacation, but I will gladly take this long weekend in the interim. Any days off are good days off. Have a great weekend! I’ll be back with this week’s vss365 wrap-up on Saturday, and then the usual Sunday update will probably go up late as we’ll be traveling. Ok, good night!
PS-Like these prompts? Like the short stories I write based on these prompts? Want to show your support? Give the blog a follow! Leave a comment! Buy me a coffee! I put a lot of time and effort into these posts and your support means the world to me! Ok, now go out there and write!
Closet Full of Notebooks 