Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
Like an elemental pull, humans will feel love in their souls, yet the dictionary will convince them it has successfully defined the word. How a word so brief can have so much significance is still a mystery to me. A complexity of emotions, somehow, people will never know its true meaning unless exposed to it.
The word “love” always carries the weight of its significance in the lives of people. Whether it is about romantic or friendship love, many struggle with human connections. Therefore, the word “love” is too complex, too profound and multifaceted to be able to describe it in a couple of words.
Pursuing the definition to the word would be missing the experience; living it, on the other hand, would reveal language was never sufficient in the first place. The very power that makes love worth yearning for would be lost if it were reduced to mere words, so perhaps its mystery is its definition.
We continuously long for synchronicity, for someone who can read a person’s self like a book just by looking at them. In the book “Living, Loving & Learning,” author and motivational speaker, Leo Buscaglia, speaks on placing your heart on the line.
“To love is to risk not being loved in return,” Buscaglia wrote.
To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Humans want to put their hearts at risk and find something so valuable the mere risk of losing it could leave long-lasting damage. When deep in love, even the slightest things feel memorable and infinite.
People are exposed to love-related stories, songs and movies from an early age. People who haven’t heard, seen or read about it are hard to come by. Most individuals eventually want to feel love and longing for themselves, not just secondhand experience.
Expectations regarding romantic relationships are more common among those who watch media about love more. People want to experience someone else by exchanging words for glances, discover a new language and feel a sense of admiration and want, according to a study conducted by PennState College of Communications.
Love finds humans. A grand sentiment I’ve long hoped to feel has, in some way, already lived within me. Maybe it’s not about one special person, but about special people such as family, friends and even myself. I get to experience profound emotions every day: listening, laughing, talking, dancing, writing, singing, walking and just being alive. I’m sure everyone has experienced it in the same ways.
Consider those who stay consistent, those who tend to their friends and try to be there even under difficult circumstances. Think of people who would be welcomed at a birthday celebration, who would add delight to meals, who would be proudly presented to family, who make people laugh and who fit in with the most meaningful aspects of life. The beauty of genuinely feeling is shown in that reflection.
Once, someone I had only known for two weeks told me, “You feel more than others do. Recognize how special that is.” I keep those words close every day. They serve as a reminder that at my core, I am a person who gives my all to the people in my life. And for now, I’m content with that being the only l-o-v-e I know.
In the end, love is not a word to be defined but one to be felt. The worth of it doesn’t lie on its definition but in the risk for the hope of it all. To feel the complexities of love is the very essence of being human and to passionately care for others. To pursue it and to long for it makes living worth it.
___________________
Follow the Graphic on X: @PeppGraphic
Contact Soliel Lara Aponte via email: soliel.lara@pepperdine.edu
