The Convenience of LOVE

There's a reason most music and poetry seem to be inspired by it. There's a reason films and TV shows can build an entire, perfectly enjoyable, plot based around it. There's a reason the simple, four-letter-word can appear in English, but still be recognized as a universal symbol by almost anyone anywhere in the world. I'm willing to bet that there's rarely any form of art or media that can't be traced back to roots that stemmed from the soil of this incredible emotion in the first place.

I'm obviously talking about love here. Not because I'm in love. And not because you're in love. I think only because I want to understand it better. Or try to get down in writing what I believe about love.

You've been in love before, right? If so, have you really? Are there different levels of love? Are there many shades to it? Do you always know if you have love? Does it sneak up all of a sudden or creep into your mind slowly? Quite simply, I truly believe that there are very few things in life that are more complicated than love. Human emotions to begin with are difficult to understand, but love takes the cake. It takes the cake, the plate, the fork, glass of milk and even the furniture it's sitting on. Love is the softest pillow and the largest, must destructive wrecking ball all at once. This is why The Beatles claim that "all you need is love". This is exactly why the Swedes claim that "life without love is a year without summer". When you have it, there is nothing more important. You don't need to have a name for it. You don't need to understand it. That's one of the things that makes it great.

You can love a pet, a hobby, your parents, best friend(s), or a person of the opposite or even same sex. Love has no boundaries, remember? You would almost have to go completely out of your way to truly live without it. You can fight it, but we're more often surrounded by love than not in our world.

Learning to embrace it is what's strange and sometimes difficult. On a personal level, I can't ever expect to be able to understand it, but only to accept it for what it is. I like to believe that I've been in love. There's been instances of mutual, one-sided, and unintentional love. I'm sure you've had someone fall in love with you when you just don't feel the same way about them. I'm sure those tables have been turned on you at one point or another as well. Perhaps you've tried to fall in love with someone and just couldn't create it. We all come to learn that, unfortunately, there's no Cupid's arrow in real life.

I hope that someday I can tell the story of meeting the girl of my dreams to my grandchildren. I believe that "love at first sight" exists, but many aren't lucky enough to experience it. I want to hope that someday I'll meet a girl that I just "know" will be the one I share all my last years with. I won't wait for it, because it may not happen that way, but if an opportunity like that fell into my world, I wish only to recognize it and grab hold at the perfect chance. Wouldn't you?

In the meantime, why not have some practice, right? Love may not always be a permanent thing. It's not pursued as something temporary, but so what if it ends up being just that? You may be in a place in life that allows for that type of company, lust, and companionship with that particular person at only that time. Who's to tell you that you shouldn't have that? You can't wait around for the very perfect mate forever. Consider your current circumstances in life. The person that's absolutely perfect for you may not be that way at all during this particular life moment. If you were to cross paths with your future truest love today, would you know it? You can never be sure. Think if you could have a conversation with yourself five years from now, or five years ago. Think if the two personalities sharing that ten year gap were to strike one up. Mr. or Mrs.Perfect may not be that today.

On the other side of that coin, however, maybe there's someone that is only perfect for you at this moment. Childhood crushes, high school and college sweethearts, your very first love (or maybe your fifth or sixth). During these times, who's to deny love from anyone? It doesn't necessarily have to last forever. You deserve to be happiest at each moment of every day. The perfect match may evolve with you but when they don't, it's your responsibility to be able to let go and move onwards and upwards. Today, you deserve to have love. You deserve it tomorrow too. And every tomorrow after that. Only because you're capable of it.

I suppose, to close, I want to say that we should never deny ourselves love. On any and all levels. If you have it, don't forget to embrace it. If you feel like you don't, do not be afraid to pursue it. In my opinion, love and other emotions are the only true reasons we exist.