Ell. Oo. Vee. Ee.

As much as I hate to admitt it, I'm a sucker for a good love story. I always say that love conquers all. Whether it be love from family, love from friends, or love from a lover. After being in, "Our Town," where love was basically the object of the play, the subject of which has been on my mind for quite sometime now. Not that I can personally attest to it myself, but I've seen the effects from it in some of my friends. Whether or not they are truely in love or just in strong like, I see the twinkle in their eyes after seeing their significant other in the hallway and when that other person's name is mentioned, I see them light up as if opening the best present on christmas morning. LOVE: What everyone wants but few have. (Technically speaking that is..)


I chuckle at the way some people picture their love being. They the mate, the perfect wedding, the marriage, the perfect life. However, the error in that picture is they tend to jump from getting to know the person after having met or conversed with them for an amount of time, to wanting to spend the rest of their lives with them. Then there are the people who totally and completely detest the word. The people who just want to have fun but don't plan on taking the relationship anywhere beyond that. Two things wrong with that. One: it's not fair to the person whom you're having your fun with. Two: it's not fair to you. Their excuse for that level of thinking ranges from, "I'm just waiting for the right guy, so why not have fun" to "Love hurts, and I don't want to get hurt again." You know what I say to that? Love itself does not hurt. Pride, selfishness, fear, insecurity.... those hurt. But love itself is a pure thing, it never hurts. If it does, it isn't love. If it's "tough" love, it can feel like it hurts at the moment but really it's there to help you. God is Love. Love is Truth. Truth is God..

" All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope. All the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect who might be searching for us. I think the biggest mistake that human beings in general make--male or female--when it comes to love is that we settle. A person could be crazy about another person and for all intents and purposes those two would probably make a great couple. But when all else fails...when the crush of you're life takes someone else to the prom, what do you do, you settle. And to top it off your excuse for which is, "I don't want to be alone for the rest of my life..." WHATEVER that means! In my opinion, no one is ever alone. You always have friends and family and, above all, you always have God. When you think about it, all of that is love. Love isn't just about sexual relationships or intimacy with someone. Love, true love, is past the mind...beyond the heart...and into the soul. Your Soul: the space where God dwells. When you love from your soul, only then can you really love someone, whether that love is of a family member, a friend, or a significant other.

Just because you know someone doesn't mean you love them, and just because you don't know people doesn't mean you can't love them. You can fall in love with a complete stranger in a heartbeat. The day you were born, you family members fell in love with you instantly, even though they didn't know you yet. If God planned that route for you open your heart. It doesn't take a reason to love someone, but it does to like someone. You don't love someone because you want to, you love someone because you are destined too. It's because you fall in Love with them, that you then try to find a reason, but you always come up with the answer, No reason. People say that love is just a word. But I believe otherwsie. Just as I believe the quote, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," is a lie. Words cut. And they can cut deep. But words can also heal. When someone say, "I love you," you might believe them. If you were to find out that it was all talk with nothing to back it up, that knowledge might sting. But the heart knows. I know the saying "Listen to your heart and you'll be ok" is very cliche, but I come to the understanding that your heart will never lead you in the wrong direction. Because when you listen to your heart, you're listening to God.

-JTC-