I have been asked, "what is love?" You task me with the explanation of something which many men, greater than I have tried and failed to explain. Webster's dictionary defines love a great passion for, or a great amount of caring for, a person or thing. Yet St. Augustine said, "Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree, not two."
Yet, alas, you asked me not for many quotes on love from great men, but for my own opinion. And this is it. Love is insanity. It is beauty. It is pain, and it is joy. It is every emotion rolled into one instant. One heartbeat. One single breath. Love can be forced, it can be taught, destroyed or even created. Love is the strongest possible human emotion. Yet, it is not even a true emotion. For in many cases it may be simply stimulus and response, a cruel trick of psychology. Love is smoke and mirrors. A game without winners and without losers. It may hurt you or it may heal you. Love is the breaking of the heart and soul of two people so that they may become joined together as one. The Bible says, "Therefore let man leave his mother and father, and he shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Love is a thing of many faces. Many definitions. Love requires a physical reaction as well as an emotional one. And once it has happened, it is one hell of a ride. Love is a rollercoaster ride. you just have to hang on tight and roll with the punches. Maybe it will last. And maybe it will die off and fade with time. But in the end, I see it fit that we should not seek love, but rather simply be open to it. If you are to fall, there is no stopping it, and no speeding it along. Love has its own plans, and is not deterred by those plans, those insecurities, or those foolish fears of man.
