LOVE
“I have not a clue what love is but I know that it is the reason we all exist.” - Allie Michelle
What is love?
I have posed this question to myself a million times, day in and day out coming up with various definitions, then proceeding to find imperfections within them and throwing them out. These various definitions have led me to the conclusion that love is indefinable and variable.
Love is a force or feeling that is dictated by the beholder rather than by the dictionary. Some say that it is a feeling that words fail to encapsulate. Others, explain love as a feeling described as warmth in their hearts or full submission and trust in another being. I myself have never been “in love” pertaining to the romantic type of love, however I have felt a strong love for my animals, my family, my friends, for the mountains that hold the divinity of the world, and for the rest of the flora and fauna that allows for life on earth. While I do seek to encounter love in a romantic setting one day, I know that love cannot and should not be forced or played with. Our minds often mistake other feelings for love, leading to toxicity within relationships. This is part of what makes love so hard to define. Many who believe they were once in love grow to realize that they were rather in a state of dependency or lust that served as a temporary state of love. But then again, who am I to say that love cannot be temporary? In fact, as I have grown older, witnessing people and relationships change, I have come to realize that love too can change. If love is a feeling encompassed by an ever changing being then love too must change. Yet another issue pertaining to the definition of love is the inability to capture the essence of love. Love is not a universally shared feeling. Everyone experiences love in different ways and love cannot be seized, defined or measured. In fact, there should be no need to define or measure love for one who is in love will have no question regarding their feelings. They will not be in search of a socialized, generalized definition to confirm their feelings of love for they will already know.
Love is powerful. The act of making love is the precursor of life. In this sense loving is living and is part of the human purpose. Love protects and conquers but it also destroys. Love is not perfect. The act of loving requires extreme vulnerability that may lead to deep woundage and heartbreak, but I know that no matter how long the heart may hurt, every second of true love is worth it . I began with a quote from young poet Allie Michelle because her poem “Not a love Poem” not only perfectly captures my view of love but also helped me raise my chest wide and open my heart up to the concept of love. Her poem made me hopeful and excited to find love within myself, for myself, and for the other beings who I may one day cross paths with.