Love is a battle field

         The one thing the movies never explain is how it happens, how you really fall in love. I mean it doesn’t happen overnight, but they tend to skip right to the huge romance thing- they never mention the awkward dates or texting all night, they don’t show the infatuation or the struggle, they just magically fall in love. And I guess for a while, maybe that was good enough for me, maybe all I wanted to know was that it happened. But now I constantly find myself wondering where those moments have gone? How those moments pan out? I’m so tired of watching those romance movies, where they meet and fall in love; I want to finally see dorky, quirky, awkward head over heels infatuation for once. I want to see something realistic. Have you ever been out in public and taken time to really notice people? The way they walk or talk on their phones? The way they hold hands with their partner or walk close to the one they admire? There’s just so much to life in general that we never feel the need or desire to explore, and to me that feels silly, and wasteful, because ignoring the beauty in the world is what creates all the hate.

The first thing I want to explore is love; Crushes, infatuation, fondness, attachment, intimacy, endearment, and head over heels in love. All different things yes, but all a form of feelings or longing for another. Love is the most common thing to surround us in our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not. “Call me when you get home safe”, “Have a good night”, “Hangout with me” – all of these are forms of fondness, whether spoken from a friend, a family member, a partner, teacher, or anyone who holds a status in your life. Love is what keeps mankind a functioning community, because really the key to love is caring. Being able to care deeply about someone gives you this vulnerability and really it’s a thing that we need.

Everywhere I go I’m lucky enough to witness great acts of love; on the bus, in the park, the hallways at school, or even my own house. The other day I was on the bus and I overheard a woman on her phone- talking to who I assume was her kid. “I’m almost there, tell him to start dinner now, the turkey is in the fridge downstairs”. She then asked to speak to him, - whoever him was, and proceeded to talk him through where all the ingredients for dinner were. Most people would lose patience; they would hang up, or even get annoyed and raise their voice. When she got off she proceeded to tell all the people who were glaring at her that she left her husband in charge for dinner and wanted to help him through the process. Simple, sweet, but nonetheless a form of affection, she wanted her family to eat a good meal even though she couldn’t be there.

It’s the small things like the woman on the bus who intrigue me. If I could carry around a video camera recording “love”, I would, and if I could get paid to do that for the rest of my life? I’d worship it. But the thing about love is people don’t understand it, so they don’t acknowledge it as much as it should be. They think the only love is the intimate kind- which as I discovered very quickly into life is not true at all. Love is when your friends make you laugh just a little too hard, or when you look forward to going out to the movies, love is when you long for someone, or think about someone at all. Love is not destroyed, love is at absence, love is disregarded, but love does not go away- love is permanent. Whether it’s a friend, object, or even a plant, love is love, and there is no greater thing. So I encourage you to love as much and as big as you can. Love yourself, love your bedroom and your clothes, love the annoying bus rides you have to take, love your terrible job that pays the bills, love your dogs and families, love your friends and peers, love the sun and the snow and really to conclude- just love life. Love the world. Love it all and love it good because you’ve only got one chance to live, so do it right. Love it.