A four-letter word
Love is such an objectified word and its quantity is most certainly an objective measurement. Try as you might, you cannot put it in words to fully describe how grand it is as that is the feeling of pure energy. If a mammal or a bird were a machine of some sort, it would have three engines running its wheels. Each of these engines is fueled by a different source. One is hope. Another one is fear. Last but by far not least is love. What’s love got to do with it? Well, just about everything. It is the core value we award to the homo sapiens.
We are set in a constant juxtaposition of making decisions and living with their consequences & these respective decisions determine the content of our character. The scale tips towards decisions made out
of fear and decisions made out of love. Love is bravery because to counter the inner voices that are compelling you to remain in the unhealthy safety of your comfort zone you have got to muster enough love for yourself and the ones precious to you in order to make a change and then face your fears. All of us have that within us. We have one annoying saboteur and one courageous fearless knight that always does the right thing. That all-fulfilling emotion that makes you feel good about yourself when you’ve helped a complete stranger who happens to be blind to cross the street or board the public transport, that too is love. When you do something that might seem minuscule but thoughtful for your favorite person in the world and you see the glim in their eyes full of endearment, radiating those fuzzy warm vibes of affection towards you, that is love.
The reason why we feel like we are in seventh heaven and soaring above the sky when we are in love or once we realized how much we appreciate having certain people to accompany us on this existential trip, is because that feeling of caring for another, be it for your child, your partner, your dearest pet, an old friend, an amazing colleague you met just 6 months ago, the people of history and from afar who inspire you to be your better self, that is a true power of liberation. Because when we are liberated from the fear of loving ourselves and those around us, we are unstoppable forces of nature. We build others up so that they too can soar. We shelter those in need so that they can have a chance of being someone’s beacon one day. We give and create. That is our purpose. And it is not just humans who are driven this way. If you take a look across the animal kingdom, you will find examples of a cheetah’s motherly love, who has a tough job, or making sure her six cubs survive the hostile wilderness of the savannah.
Did you know that elephants have elaborate ceremonies of mourning when they lose a member of the herd? They also have a system of wholesome babysitting which means that all of them care for each baby in the herd as if it was their own child. My favorite example by far is the same-sex couples among penguins who take care of the orphaned eggs and raise adopted chicks as their own. These adorable gay couples would hatch the egg of another couple and provide the baby penguins with the warmth, safety, and affection of the true parent’s love as an attestation to nature’s grand scheme of things which once again narrates that love is not constructed by a socio-political system. It is raw emotion and the ultimate driving force of all caring creatures.
Now, you might wonder why this article is not about a historic romantic pairing of some sort that symbolizes the eternity of having a romantic equal. Well, I shan’t leave you in the dark then. I have no intention of limiting the fruits of love to the romantic kind of it. Love is not (just) about marriage and relationships. Love is about caring for another person, another creature, the planet you live on, or the nature that surrounds you. Love is the amount of value you give to yourself. You do not have to be in a romantic relationship at the moment or have a big family with dozens of siblings, cousins, aunts & great-aunts. The point lies in your capacity to give and receive this magical gift of the universe. That being said, when was the last time you told someone dear how much you love their guts?
At the end of every episode of RuPaul’s drag race, RuPaul would remind the queens remaining in the competition to always remember the following: ‘If you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?’. So, remember — you already have all it takes. Now allow others to appreciate you for it as well.
