What Is Love?

Recently, I asked the question "What do you mean when you say you love me?" And I got a wonderful response. Then I was asked the same thing. I started thinking. What does I Love You mean to me?

Let's start with the denotation. According to Webster's Concise English Dictionary, love is a strong liking and feeling of desire for. That's the definition of love.

To some people, love is nothing but a word, a robotic response. When someone tells them "I love you," they automatically say it back. It's the expected thing to do. Because it's standard to say you love someone, it becomes another meaningless phrase. Just as it is now common to include rear view cameras on cars, it's common to say "I love you." When those rear view cameras first made their appearance, they were a big deal. Now it's a standard feature. Love used to be a real, meaningful feeling. To some people however, it's simply a customary expression, much like a simple hello.

To others, love is something real. It's a true feeling. Saying "I love you" is a major sentence, full of emotion. It's like giving someone your heart and not caring whether or not you get it back. It's wanting them to have your heart forever, so you never have to leave them. Being in love is trusting someone. If you truly believe in love, when someone says they love you it means they will always be there for you. If you feel like letting go, if you're falling, if you're totally out of control and spiraling downwards, that person, the amazing person that loves you, will be there to catch you. Always.

To me, love is some wonderful creature that can't be fully understood or harnessed. It's something free and beautiful. Not everyone gets a chance to feel true love the way I do, and those that do have something amazing. When I say I love you, I mean it. I mean you're everything to me. I mean I wouldn't have it any other way. We have a love so perfect, and I don't want that to be lost. To me, love is laughing and throwing stones at one another. Love is holding hands in the back seat of a Chevy truck. Love is sitting on our bridge with your arm around me and the great feeling that goes with that. Anyone could put their arm around me, but only you can make me feel safe and loved when you do it. I know that you will be there for me. I know you had your touch of grey, we all do, but that doesn't matter because it's all silver to me. You are perfect in my eyes. What we have is a wonderfully imperfect love, and that is perfect in and of itself.

You don't want to lose me,
And I don't want to be lost.