Baby Don't Hurt Me

What is love? Shall we google it?

It's a noun (person place or thing) and verb. It's something we feel. Love is something we should share and give. Something that is debatable is: if and when love is deserved. Or if love can be owned or possessed? I'm not sure if everyone deserves love but I do know it can not be possessed.

When I was Christian I use to believe everyone deserved love, and to be loved. More specifically god's love. So this blog post may not appeal to my religious friends- my concept looks at the human emotion on a non eternal spectrum.

We use love and respect interchangeably.... so much so I think we confuse it. The English language isn't the best language to discuss words and their meanings. Love's synonyms are numerous, including but not limited to: Fondness, tenderness, desire, lust compassion, care, etc. I do not think everyone deserves all those things. There are some shitty people in the world who never want to be better not matter how much you try. But I do think we deserves to at least experience it, and most people want those things.

I believe love is an experience. Those who deserve love are those who emulate it.

So what about those who never got the chance? That's what you and I are for; to constantly emulate it by choice. But even though not everyone is worthy of receiving it, we just share it anyways. Because when we share it we experience it more. Emotions can be complicated. Love is just one of many good emotions. It does not encompass all good things- which is what I was taught in religion. Love is free, love exists whether you want part of it or not. And love will continue with out you.

When I was younger my family use to say when my siblings and I fought that was "brotherly and sisterly love". what a dangerous ideal I was being taught at an early age. Love can be described as many things, but love is NOT painful, abusive, angry or hateful. In my late teens to early 20's I really had to redefine what that word meant to me because my family didn't understand what it meant.

I like the analogy of the flower. You are fond of the way the flower looks, its beauty its fragrance. But if you pick it from the ground, claimed it for yourself and don't share it, it will die, and rather quickly. Yes all living things eventually die, why not pick the flower? Enjoy it! One heavy rain and it will get pummeled, right? Plant a certain flower in the wrong spot and the sun will kill it. Love is funny like that, it sometimes has conditions, and it is not meant to be controlled. Love is something I've enjoyed observing lately. Where love ends, another emotion begins. It's not timeless in my mind anymore. You can come back to it; but just like happiness, laughter, sadness, anger, it too has a beginning and an end.

Enjoy love from a new perspective today, one of gratitude you can sit with it. Treat love as a companion. Love doesn't stick around while you're holding hands with other negative emotions. You only have so many hands. Be mindful of your emotional journey. And maybe today, choose love.