THE WORD "LOVE" Episode I

HE WORD "LOVE"  

Episode I 

“I would willingly turn into

A stone bridge for five hundred (500)

Years and endure 500 years

Of wind, 500 years of sunlight and

500 years of rain – All I ask is

That you walk over the bridge.”

Now this quote was surprisingly a response from a “monk to be” to his master,
It was said that before one of Buddha’s disciples became a monk, he met a beautiful girl, and fell in love with her. Of course he had to face the Buddha for questioning and all that pep talk, so, the Buddha asked him “How much do you love her?” and he answered: He would turn into a stone bridge and endure 500 years of wind, 500 years of sunlight and 500 years of rain – he only ask that the girl would walk over the bridge.
I will not go about to convince you or ask for your permission to declare that amongst all of the love quotes, the love write ups and the love ideologies that I have heard, read, or even written about.  This very quote contradicts and seem to amaze me to a wild extent, it makes me wonder if the writer was actually referring to the love that I know or feel, because it opens a whole new chapter of feeling in my heart, it creates a vacuum that needs to be filled with of such feeling, it engraves in my heart a new taste of love with so bold a letter that it occupies a whole lot of space.
Love, Love, Love, it is so big a word but so few of letters, it has been defined in so many different ways that it tends to tarnish the essence of it, love has been misunderstood for so many different things ranging from lust, hate, passion, obsession to list but a few. At some point some people even concluded that love just a weakness, i.e. a weak point to or of humanity.
The definition of love, even the dictionary could not pin point a particular definition, it has numbers of definition of just one word, let’s take one of these definition; According to the Oxford English dictionary, love is a profound and caring affection towards someone, it went further to add that, it is a feeling of intense attraction towards someone.
This has been a thrillingly favoured topic of poets, philosophers, counsellors, writers, artists and scientists for ages and there has been different group of people and organizations that often fought about its definition, there are many disagreements about its precise meaning and yes, one person’s “I love you” might tend to mean a different than another’s.
My opinion on love is that you feel what you feel and be careful not to act how you feel. Of course it can be very uncontrollable, but still you got to try to do the controlling and not the other way round. Don’t let it consume you in totality especially when you’re not sure of the feeling, could be lust. Oh yeah I said it, could be lust, yes because lust is also a strong affection. Lets save the lust talk for another day and finalize love which we cannot actually finalize, we could talk about love forever you k now, and it’s so big a word to summarize.
Although almost no one can conclude or agree to a single definition of love, most people do agree that love obviously plays a very significant role in both our physical and psychological well-being. Numerous research and study thesis had also demonstrated the benefits of love. The role of love in one’s health is so far-reaching, examples include;

• It has been proven that babies who are not shown love and affection in their very early stages in form of frequent holding and cuddling may be developmentally delayed or ill.
• Feelings of low self-esteem and depression had often been traced down significantly to feeling unloved
• People who love and are loved in return by other people are studied to be very much happier.
• Love can also play a role in long-term health, adding to it is that feeling emotionally connected often help increase immunity.

Bob Marley wrote quite a piece about love, person, acceptance and trust;

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find

someone who completely turn your world around.

You tell them things that you’ve never shared with

another soul and they absorb everything you say

and actually want to hear more. You share hopes

for the future, dreams that will never come true,

goals that were never achieved and the many

disappointments life has thrown at you. When

something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to

tell them about it, knowing they will share in your

excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with

you when you are hurting or laugh with you when

you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your

feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough,

but rather they build you up and show you the things

about yourself that make you special and even beautiful.

There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition

but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You

can be yourself and not worry about what they will think

of you because they love you for who you are.

The things that seem insignificant to most people such

as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures

kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of

your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s

like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more

brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before

it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or

two during the day helps to get you through a long

day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In

their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation,

but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby.

Things that never interested you before become fascinating

because you know they are important to this person who is

so special to you. You think of this person on every

occasion and in everything you do. Simple things

bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind

or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your

heart knowing that there is a chance it may be broken

one day and in opening your heart, you experience

a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find

that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your

heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you.

You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and

possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end.

Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile.

Your only hope and security is in knowing

that they are part of your life.”

Although not in complete support of the first line where he said he believes it is just once that one can find a special person. The Rastafarian Bob Marley really did a great job in this piece, he identified almost every possible feeling and behaviour that one can portray when in love, he stressed out the entire reaction to love.
I also admire the way Neil Gaiman puts it, he said;

“Have you ever been in love?

Horrible isn’t it?

It makes you so vulnerable.

It opens your chest and

Opens up your heart

And it means that

Someone can get

Inside you and

Mess you up”

Love is a risk which if you do not take, you may never experience the pleasure of loving and being loved, you have to take the risk of loving first to be able to phantom what love really is, so therefore, my conclusion is that;

“Until You Love,

You May Keep

Defining And

Seeing Love

From The

Wrong

Perspective”