Isn't Love Lovely?

Seeing my roommate and one of my best friends get ready for marriage has made me really start thinking about love. My roommate met her now fiancé at church and a short 5 weeks later became engaged. After a two-month engagement they’re finishing off the final touches to their wedding taking place in a couple weeks. After knowing this guy for two weeks, my roommate seeking advice (after she concluded that she was in love with him) as to how she could find out if the feeling was mutual.

Now I have dated my fair share of guys and so I believe that was the reason she was asking me this question, but honestly there is no answer to that in my own opinion. Saying I love you should never be taken lightly. However, I think that if you are in love it should be easy to say and not something to stress about. Of course, every relationship is different and there really is no right answer.

One thing I find amazing about love is how many different kinds of love there are. I remember when I was little my brother, mother and I were sitting in the car and driving away from the airport. We ] just dropped off my father to go to London for 3 months. My mother seemed very sad and my brother picked up on this. He asked her why she was so sad? He didn’t understand because he loved my father too but wasn’t as upset as her. My mom explained to him, “Eric, there is a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone”.

The feeling of love is different in every circumstance. Think about all the people and things you love and the different ways in which you love them. I love my father, my bonsai tree, friends, macaroni and cheese, Shakespeare, black and white romance movies, dancing, running, Depot Bay Oregon, my freedom, recalling happy memories—and all of these I love with very different feelings. I think one needs to be careful not to fall in love with anything or anyone too deeply to the point of irrationality. A friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago, “You should be in love if you get married, but you shouldn’t get married just because you are in love”. There are so many things to think about and consider when it comes to dealing with love rationally. In my opinion, love is the most important emotion and is powerful enough to fully engulf you. One needs to be careful and not let it take control of your logic.

I may be what some people call a ‘romantic’, however I think that there should be certain precautions when dealing with something as fragile as love. To find love, you should seek it out in every way possible. I’ve found that when I surround myself in and with love, then I find everything and everyone loving me back.