Often, the prompts we get on Unwritten are a wide variety and fun! When I saw this one, I immediately wanted to reach out to a range of people on what they defined “love” as. Whether it was as a relationship, a job, a connection with nature or an animal, etc.
Below are some of the fantastic responses I got.
Melody: God is love. One cannot know it until they know God.
Kelsey: Love doesn’t put you down or make you feel ashamed for being who you are, feeling what you think. It should feel like your biggest cheerleader.Â
Austin: Love is getting to know someone and not only know but understand them. Life together won’t always be easy, but understand it’ll all be worth it. You must know how to love and be loved but also understand the other person’s needs.
Kourtney: Love is many things; I believe it can be experienced in a million ways. It’s like a giant umbrella; it comes in many forms: feelings, actions, expressions, words, songs, relationships, and beyond. Loving means knowing no barriers and not discriminating against anyone. It is meant for all of us.
Kelsey’s friend: A complex and multifaceted emotion one can only feel to other people (and dogs). It involves feelings of empathy, compassion, and a strong desire to support others, even to the detriment of oneself. The different facets of love can be driven by romantic, family, or friendship relations.Â
Ben: The feeling ofnding/creating/feeling joy from something outside your consciousness. We consciously or unconsciously reach out to everything the world offers and decide how we resonate with each one. It’s also an inherently vulnerable feeling, as whatever we feel love towards, we are opening our most emotional and emotionally vulnerable sides to it. The sense of love is worth it. It remains no matter what, even when what we choose is gone.
Kristen: Love can be many things; it’s spiritual, romantic, selfless, and selfish. Most of all, it is a vulnerability. When reciprocated, it’s about knowing and being known in the most intimate ways.
Myself: I believe a lot of the responses above. Love has so many concepts that we can’t always put into words. It’s personal, between two people or a person and a higher power or animal. It knows someone innately trusting that they won’t betray you by learning all that information.Â
Do any of these responses resonate with what you believe you love to stand for? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image via JD Mason on Unsplash
