What is Love?

Boo!

I hope you're all having a good week :) Not long now till the weekend! 

So recently the lovely Laura from Girl Behind the Look followed me on Twitter under the name @ColabThursday. You can click here for more information about what it entails but it is basically a fantastic way to get bloggers involved. Bloggers who join get sent an email every Sunday on a certain topic which will get published every Thursday. And this week's topic is quite a big one: Love. The beauty of this entire collaboration concept is that you can write about that topic in whatever way you want, how ever you interpret it. 

Before I give my take on this topic I just want to say that I'm no love expert and don't profess to be one, everything here is what I feel, and I understand that everyone has their own interpretation and opinion. 

Anyway let's begin:)

Image from Google

So what is love? I don't think it's a thing that can really be described with words. It's so vast, complex and wonderful at the same time that no words can do it justice. We all have loves whether it be family, friends, significant other, food, fashion, sleeping, animals etc. As everyone loves different things to various degrees it's impossible for me to talk about them individually so I'd like to talk about love in terms of relationships with your significant other. 

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

"Our love is like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it" – Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember 

What is love?

There's no straight answer to this as it's the sort of feeling that becomes so overwhelming and amazing at the same time it can't be ignored. 

These are some of feelings I associate with love personally: Happy/Content, Fulfilment, Worthwhile, Passion. On top of these amazing feelings though are a few key ingredients to make sure that that love is everlasting: Respect, Compromise, Understanding, Appreciation.

Can love conquer all?

To me I honestly believe that love has no bounds, in the sense that if two people love each other that much nothing can get in between them. Of course that has to be qualified realistically. For example love can't feed the family or find you a job. But I believe it can make you better to want to be a better person to achieve the things you want. To me love should motivate you to be the best you can be because you have someone who believe in you and loves you for who you are and what you can be. 

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage" – Lao Tzu

Love should never be taken for granted, it should be treasured and nurtured
It has to also be remembered that love should never be taken for granted. For someone to give you their heart wholeheartedly is an honour and privilege and it shouldn't be stored away, forgotten or, worst smash to pieces. Love shouldn't be an effort or chore, but something that comes naturally. With that though is the need to be cautious about 'forgetting about it'/taking it for granted. You should always tell your significant other than you love them. That isn't too be clingy or attention seeking but it is to remind them and show them that you still do love and care about them. It shouldn't be said just for the sake of saying it though, it should be genuine and come from the heart. 

Love is about compromising. Two people loving each other, no matter how similar they are, are bound to have some clashes. It's expected. But love should allow you to work through those differences and make compromises. Sometimes a person can love the other so much that they are willing to give up everything to please their other half. If you're willing to accept such sacrafice on their part, are you really loving them? Isn't that taking advantage a little bit?

“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.” – John Lennon

Love above everything?

This I will separate into two parts: a) Being blinded by love, and b) loving imperfections.

a) Blinded by love

We are all susceptible to it. On one end of the spectrum, when we love someone, we are in a totally different world. We think that everything about that one person is so perfect and they don't seem to have any faults, or at least we brush them aside. Whereas on the other end of the scale, when we hate a person, we are so enveloped in the hate that we ignore or can't see all their good aspects.  I'm in no way here to tell or even in the position to tell anybody who they should love or not. Love whoever your heart takes you to. However, don't be blinded by love so much that it takes you away from others that are the closest to you. I don't think a relationship should take you away from your family. It's natural to stand up for the one you love (in terms of significant other) especially when you know them better than maybe your family or friends because you've known them for longer or because you've just spent more time with them so understand them better. There will be cases where families/friends would want to break two people up for the wrong reasons like jealousy, being controlling etc. If that's the case stand up for your relationship and fight for it. There must be a solid reason why they don't like your choice in partner and it can't be something trivial or unreasonable. However, friends and family have your best interests at heart and won't want you hurt, so if they voice their concerns always remember to take it into account and try to see things from their point of view. It might just be a misunderstanding but you've got to try to build the relationship between them rather than burn the bridges. 

b) Loving everything despite their imperfections

There is no such thing as a perfect guy or girl. Perfection is not only subjective, it is unrealistic. Love isn't something that should conform to society or whatever, it should be something natural and personal to you and your partner. There is no such thing as perfection. Everybody has flaws, but that is what makes us human. What makes love so powerful is being able to see someone's 'imperfections', and loving them for those 'imperfections'.

"Perhaps it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another." —Emma, Jane Austen

My take on love may be considered either too naive, unrealistic or too cold etc. Again I am in no position to dictate who you should love or why you should do something. Being in the love is one of the most beautiful feelings in the entire world. You can tell when someone's in love because they are happy :) Love is a very powerful thing that, in my opinion, should not be thrown around so readily and easily. And once you feel that explosion of passion and emotion, always work at it, and never take it for granted. 

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

I'm sorry for the long post! I hope you guys enjoyed it :) 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on love:) What is love to you?

Take care and speak soon!

☺