By Dylan Pichnarcik
Editorial Staff
If you are sitting down reading this, there is almost a 100% certainty that you have loved something. Whether it be your dog, your parents, a significant other, or that totally awesome “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” action figure you got on your 12th birthday. You have felt strong positive emotions toward something in your life.
But what does this mean? How can you show your love? And is saying “I love you” just a phrase? To love something is to have a personal connection to that person, place, or other subjective noun.
But how do you know what love is? Are you expected to love?
No.
Far too much power is given to our words. Oftentimes, words can be empty. So, to show someone you love them is a public display of the makeup of your love.
But before you can show someone you love them, you need to understand what the word means. Love can be broken down into several emotions - admiration, respect, passion, desire, and calmness all come to mind, creating a symphony of emotions that are built into the crescendo of love.
Love can also be pain, because to feel love is to also feel loss, the stinging sensation in your heart when someone leaves you, is proof that you loved.
So while you can, buy her flowers, tell your mom you care about her, write a thank you note to your great aunt for remembering your birthday and tell your friends you're thinking about them, just because.
The impact that this will have on other people will be tremendous. You will make them feel cared for, empowered, and heard. Do this for somebody. Just as you would want them to do for you. It shows your empathy as a human and your love for someone.
By no means does love need to be expressed through materials. Sometimes simply telling someone how you feel is enough to show how you feel about someone - although chocolate helps too.
Communication is key in love, telling someone how you feel consistently and them sharing their feelings. This can be hard, but it is essential to the success of your relationships with others.
It shows maturity and engagement with the involved party or parties and can dramatically improve the quality of the time spent with someone.
Find yourself in somebody else. Look for the strength that you have, and surround yourself with people who you want to care about, and who care about you.
Positivity and love go hand-in-hand, your life will be full and you will form deeper connections with those around you.
Love is an all encompassing expression of your thoughts. Your feelings are what they are, do not be ashamed to love, do not be ashamed to hate. Your emotions are simply information.
Throughout your life, you will love. It is ingrained in the very fabric of what makes you human. You may be born to love your family, but things can and will change, you will have a first love, a last love, and whatever may fall in between.
Love is an essential part of life, and can change the way you see the world, either for better or worse.
So no, love is not just a word.