Love - Complex or Simple?

Love.  It is defined as the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.  It represents kindness, compassion, and affection.  Some see it as the basis for all being.  So what does all that mean?

So often we find ourselves saying those three little words, "I love you."  And so often we find ourselves saying those words with no real feeling behind them.  Sure, we know what they mean.  "I care about you."  "You matter to me."  "You are pretty awesome."  But shouldn't the words "I love you" mean so much more than that?

After all, we have to take the risk of saying those words and then wonder.  How will they react?  Do they even feel the same way?  Will they say it back?  Will I just get a blank stare?  When is love too much?  What does it really mean to be in love?  What causes us to fall in love?

For centuries we have recited poems, read stories, and watched plays about love.  It is these things that we have relied upon to explain the complexities of love to us.  Is there something wrong with our concept of love?  After all, why should love be so complex when in nature love is something that should be so simple?

I think if we strip down all these complexities and take a real hard look at what love is truly suppose to be, it can best be defined by the following....

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in the evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

I Corinthians 13:5-7

How many people do you know who can love unconditionally like that?  Of course everyone desires to be loved.  Love is one of those things you spend your entire life searching for in all the wrong places.  It can make us become bitter and confused and then our perception of love changes.  Some of us start to truly believe that love does not exist.

Our perceptions of love are influenced by our experiences, whether they are good or bad.  Everything we feel along this journey might be a desperate reach for something unattainable or it may be a step in the right direction.  It's almost like it is s trial and error kind of thing.  It is from there we have to decide if we believe in pure, true love and if we can truly strip down to the basis of love and love unconditionally.

So until that point comes, all you can keep doing is learn from the mistakes and hurts and find refuge in a love that is never ending.  Then all that is left is to enjoy the journey.

I do not love you as if you are salt-rose or topaz,

Or the arrows of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain things are to be loved,

In secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

But carries itself the light of hidden flowers.

Thanks to your love a certain fragrance,

Risen darkly from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love with without knowing how, or when or from where,

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride,

So I love you because I know no other way than this:

Where "I" does not exist, nor "you,"

So close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

So close that your eyes close and I fall asleep.

~Pablo Neruda~