Every chance we get we try to outwardly express our feelings for one another; whether it be a kiss goodbye, an “I love you” before hanging up the phone, or a slap in the face we all have this innate response to portray our emotions with actions. This is why a one-hundred-year-old trend called “Love Locks” seemed like a natural reaction. It started in World War I in Serbia; in a time when certain people weren’t able to be with each other since couples were geographically divided by the war. Most Ljubavi, the Serbian bridge in which people started locking padlocks onto, means “The Bridge of Love”. Locks upon locks, love upon love, the bridge grew tremendously over the years.

This trend started to migrate to other countries as time went on, and finally made its way to the Brooklyn Bridge in 2009. Tiny professions of love seemed sweet at first, but gradually turned into something disastrous as the tiny professions became large exclamations of love. It officially became outlawed in 2016 by DOT when a wire for an overhead light snapped under extreme weight of the “Love”. It caused the lane to be closed for two hours causing traffic among other things. The damage was able to be fixed but the risk is far too great to have people continue to further impair an iconic landmark like the Brooklyn Bridge.

Now that your “unbreakable” love will be clipped and will also cost a one-hundred dollar fine, I think it’s time to start finding more eco-friendly and pocket-friendly methods to profess those bottled feelings to that special someone. So this is a project for those who are itching to put their love on lock. You know who you are…

1. Think of that significant person in your life. Don’t worry this isn’t a test, take as long as you like on this step.

2.  Find a rock and buy/borrow indefinitely from a friend/get a sharpie. These are the only tools you will need for this project.

3. Scribble you and your special someone’s initials on the rock. If you are a perfectionist like me, you can stencil it with a pencil first and then trace over it with the permanent marker.

4. Just like with the lock, meet up with that special someone at any body of water in the city. Luckily, we are surrounded by water. You can find some really great suggestions from my previous posts like, South Street Seaport or Brooklyn Bridge Park.

5. Throw it into the water like Mariano Rivera. The chances of ever seeing that rock is severely unlikely just how you will never recover the key of the lock. Your love will infinitely reside in your chosen body of water and you can visit its residence whenever you want.

As a fellow college student, I understand that money can be tight but this project is virtually free. So go… go profess your love. Fill the Atlantic Ocean with your love.

Happy Valentine’s Day!