I have known for a long time, at least, that my opinions on life are overwhelmingly different from the majority. I know perhaps one person who has shared my affliction for a rather atypical thought process, but recently I have discovered another who suffered from the same inner conflicts as I do.

His name is Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was an existentialist philosopher in the late 19th century whose work could not be summarized by me, or any profound thinker I have come across.

In Nietzsche's book, Beyond Good and Evil, he writes his feelings on independence and the free spirit.

He says, "One has to test oneself in order to see that one is destined for independence and command, and do it at the right time. One should not dodge one's tests, though they may be the most dangerous game one could play and are tests that are taken in the end before no witness or judge but ourselves. Not to remain stuck to a person, not even the most loved, every person is a prison..."

As I dwell upon the works of Nietzsche in attempts to finish my final paper of the semester, I had a rare epiphany about both Nietzsche's and my standpoints. While both his ideas are unusual and cynical, I have yet to convince myself they are unjustified, though I would love to be proven wrong.

From the day we are born, for most of us, we are presented and programmed with preconceived notions that society, as well as our parents, unknowingly pushed upon us. The notion that is at the forefront of my insatiable appetite for questioning is love and its pertinence to life.

America is infatuated with love. We make movies and write songs about it, we have a holiday for it, and we even declare undying emotions to that sole person in front of god in our most sacred place we know.

I felt for the majority of my still-occurring youth that love plays a starring role in life -- that without it one's life could not be complete and would not be enriched to its fullest. But is our life ultimately presented to us in order to find a companion to share it with?

What Nietzsche says is that the attachment to any person is a factor that will hold back an individual from fulfilling why one exists on earth. In turn, "Every person is a prison."

Is it a sign of the strong to have a dependency upon another individual? For those fortunate enough to have experienced the high of love with another being, it is unlike any other experience. I do not wish to be viewed that I do not feel as though love is important or wonderful, but merely propose that it is not the epicenter of life. Rather, it is a deterrent of one's aspirations. That is not to say that one could not attain a successful career and maintain a perfect marriage. But will a plentiful bank account or a fulfilling job satisfy a soul's desire?

As children we dream of becoming firefighters, cowboys, actresses and veterinarians, among a plethora of other careers. As we mature, we devote more time to the attainment of these goals, until, we meet someone who makes us realize that love and what love brings, is enough; that life can be fulfilling if we just have a special person to share it.

But what then happens to our dreams and aspirations? Typically, we sacrifice the once sacred desires we had for our life to plan a future with our loved one.

But we enter this world as individuals, as do we die as individuals. Ultimately, I feel passionately about the need for spiritual growth during one's life -- that we are given this life to reach a certain level of enlightenment.

My ulterior goal may be to find that being who is capable of growing along with me, to share in the complexities and contradiction that I find in any society. Though one does not choose with whom and when you fall in love, can we as individuals choose to spend our lives alone and ignore love that is presented to us?

Will that love ultimately guide us to what we strive for as beings or does that love sidetrack the weak and vulnerable from what is at hand?

I think that most would be inclined to agree it is far more difficult to be alone than to be in love. In retrospect to that, is it the difficult that makes us stronger better and more wise?

Perhaps love is what masks the most difficult challenges from us and allows us to sidestep the truly inherent questions of life.

Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life?

Love allows us to negate why we are here. Love is happy. And perhaps most importantly love is blind, or better yet, blinding.

One of my greatest struggles, at least for this life, will be to either accept life as society has presented it to me from the time I was born, and be content with whomever I find to share my life with; or struggle with myself, alone, as an individual.

Either way I have a feeling that it is not a choice I have to make, some choices our life makes for us.