Someone recently equivocated loyalty and commitment in a conversation. Or perhaps they didn’t mean their words to be taken in that manner.
Regardless, it’s not the first time I’ve come cross the idea that
Loyalty=commitment
Romance and Commitment.
“I want someone loyal to me, someone who knows how to commit.” Romance is often portrayed in this way. If someone is loyal, they will commit. Simple equation. But…something felt off about that statement.
I think part of my dilemma is that when we speak of “committed relationships,” we are almost entirely speaking about romantic relationships. I have literally never seen an example where someone spoke of Commitment and Loyalty in a non-Romantic context (of course, I may have missed something). But one can have loyalty without having a romantic inclination.
Commitment, I think, can be associated with Loyalty; whereas Loyalty is not always about Commitment.
Loyalty, funnily, isn’t exclusive to romantic entanglements. I’ve often heard people talk about a “loyal friend.” If anything, I’ve known of friendships with more loyalty than many romantic partnerships. And that isn’t particularly controversial or unspoken. Heard that plenty, too. “My best friend has been the most loyal person to me all my life. Not like my boyfriends.” Am I the only one?
I have always craved loyalty with friends, though rarely succeeded in managing that. Sometimes I wanted Commitments, too. These friends from whom I sought Commitment would assume my desire meant I was secretly wishing for a romantic attachment to them– when truly I respected the friendship and only wanted some security with the friendship, just as anyone would desire with their romantic partner. Untrue. I simply wanted a deeper bond between us. No romance required.
But I wanted loyalty at the very least, if not expectations. Unfortunately, I found it very difficult (read impossible in most cases) to gain loyalty with these friends, because we lacked Commitments between us. No expectations of shared vacation time or making major life decisions with each other in mind. I did not mind that; you cannot have that level of a relationship with everyone without driving oneself mad.
Yes, I still wanted loyalty with non romantic connections.
I wanted to be able to count on them when I needed them, as they could count on me. I wanted to know that what we had was real and lasting, even if it was just a friend.
But at the same time, yes, I wanted loyalty in any relationship where we did have Commitments.
What does that a commitment mean, if there is no loyalty? Yes, I believe loyalty ought to be associated with Commitments. I want trust in the relationships in which I’ve invested myself the most.
I just think think it’s possible dangerous to confuse the two as being One and the Same. I only think that loyalty is not exclusive to Committed relationships.
Thanks for listening to my little TED talk!
