Love

Love. It comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It ranges in color from black and white at times, to a box of 64 multicolored Crayola crayons. The world revolves around love. And love is powerful enough to stop your world.

Love is a peculiar thing. You can’t see it but you can see it’s effects. Love can launch your head into the clouds and cause you to walk into door frames and light posts. Or, fall off curbs. It can bring a smile to your lips and tears to your eyes. You can’t see it yet you eagerly search for it. Love comes, and love goes. Everyone wants it. Everyone needs it. Everyone deserves it. Love can heal a broken heart and then break it again into a million pieces. You can fall into it, and then fall out of it. You can love someone or, more importantly, be in love. Love is blind. Love is in the air. Lovesick is the “sickness” you actually want to have. Love even comes with its own fireworks display. Love feels good. Love hurts.

Love is the intense form of like. Example: “I like your hair. No, I love your hair.” Which, when translated, means, “I really, really, really like your hair.” I do believe the word love is vastly overused, maybe even abused, to the point that perhaps the depth and quality of the meaning has diminished some. I know there are several definitions of love and it can be used as either a noun or verb. I get it. I guess it’s more thoughtful to say, “I love your shoes.” instead of, “I like your shoes, a lot.” But when it comes to relationships, love needs to be profound, unique, defined, compelling, and far greater than all the other “loves”. Point: Don’t let love get lost.

True love is what everyone is searching for. Well, maybe most everyone. Okay, some of us. Alright, me. True love cannot be one-sided, otherwise it wouldn’t be true. Love without action is empty. It’s easy to say I love you. It’s much harder to back up those words because it takes a great deal of thoughtfulness and work. Be mindful of this BEFORE you make a commitment. If their actions don’t support their words, then you are in the wrong relationship. Don’t believe you can change them later. That’s not fair and it doesn’t work. You truly do not want to make a commitment with someone who you feel needs to change. Lust is often mistaken for love which leads to broken hearts, guilt, rejection, and grief. Avoid making that mistake. Be mindful of these things.

True love isn’t perfect by any means, because, well…we are human. But, true love is a shared and common bond of companionship, trust, understanding, support, loyalty, goals, etc. Even though we may consider a relationship to be true love, it still requires work. Everything good requires work to maintain. Anyone who says you can “live on love” is living in a dream world. Loving relationships require patience, self-sacrifice, and a great amount of understanding, among other things. Maybe to them it doesn’t feel like work. I would then commend them for that attitude. And maybe it is possible to feel that way if you are with the right person, and on the same page.

Maybe I’m not the ideal person to give advice concerning love. Viewing my track record, I certainly don’t appear to be an authority in the love department. But I know what I’ve lived through, the mistakes that were made, and the lessons I’ve learned. I put pieces together. I know what I feel. And I know what I desire. Maybe these don’t make me an expert, but I do speak from my heart.

Love is appreciation. Love is gratitude. Love is compassion. Love is forgiving. Love is trustworthy. Love is kindness. Love is empathy. Love is passionate. Love is selfless. Love is beautiful. These things I do know.

Thank you for being here. ♥️

Andi

Photos: top: a scarred heart on the inside wall of a covered bridge (I did not outline); bottom: black & white love (from my skunk collection)