Poem: Cheers

Love. Such a beautiful, yet terrifying concept. But what exactly is love? How do we define it? How do we find it? How do we know what's the right love, or the wrong love? 

For me, the concept of love has changed greatly in these last few years of my life. No, not changed, evolved. Love is just as mystifying and ambiguous as outer space or the depths of the ocean. Its definition is subjective, as we all have our own determination of what love is based on our own needs and desires. 

I used to consider love to be a feeling. You meet someone, and you bond. You grow together based on commonalities, childhood, and traumas. But, I think we sometimes consider this word too loosely. We are constantly hearing about being or falling in love, but we don't consider the magnitude of all that encompasses it. Consider love to be the surface level of the tier of the emotion cascade.

Let's do an exercise. Close your eyes, and picture the word LOVE floating above the surface of an ocean water, and you being the ocean. Let yourself become the air that you smell and the waves that you feel as you float in your ocean body.Allow yourself to feel whatever feeling that comes to mind when consider pure and natural love. Now, below the surface of the waves, what is the next tier of emotions that makeup the overall feeling that you have. Is it Safety? Freedom? Family? Understanding? Is it Loyalty? Is it Respect? Is there a hierarchy based on what's needed most versus what's needed less? Is there anyone in the water with you? If you don't truly see a specific person, what does their essence feel like?

If we were to all do this exercise, what we would each see may vary, and that's because there is truly no specific answer to finding love. Love is boundless; it extends as deep as the ocean or as far out as space. There's no perfect person. It's a matter of two people coming together with the best intentions for themselves and the other.

As I went through my old book of poems this past weekend, I came across this poem that I started back in October 2023 but had never finished. I had left off on the concept of being a fool (you'll see below). I guess that was how I was last feeling at the time when I started this poem. Part of this outlook came from the disappointment that I subjected myself to trying to find the "right" love. The more recent chapters of my life has allowed me to release all of the pressure that I placed on myself back then. It has allowed me to gain a new outlook on partnership, love, and even friendship. 

Love is free-flowing. It is a grand design that is made between two people. But no two people are the same. Thus, no two relationships are the same. 

You want my advice? Don't limit yourself or confine yourself based on the expectations of others. Do what works for you and your partner. Your happiness is your own. 

May we all find the Love that we desire. Our own grand design. 

I present to you, my original poem, Cheers.