Love, Love, and Love (Part One)

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge."

Quote credit to Thomas Carlyle. Note, the quote does not speak about a particular kind of love. It just states a "loving heart". Let me be blunt for a moment. People piss me off about love sometimes. They knock others down for loving and there's 'rules' set in place and wowzers it makes me mad sometimes. Just wow. Some situations currently occuring in my life and a friend's facebook status (reading "QUIT SAYING UR IN LOVE U CANT BE " IN LOVE " WITH EVERY PERSON U MEET") got me thinking. Cause I say 'I love you' often. I know I do and I'll be the first to admit that. But. . . I mean it every time. That's where my issues with 'love' comes in. People really don't understand what it is and the abundance of it there should be.

I decided to look it up on the dictionary. Love. Dictionary.com had multiple definitions actually. Here are the most important in my opinion.

     1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. 

     2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
     3. sexual passion or desire.
     4. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor.
     5. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything: her love of books.
     6. the benevolent affection of god for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.
Look at these definitions. So why is it such a bad thing to be in love?
 
Love can be felt toward all people. ALL PEOPLE. It specifically says above: "parent, child, or friend". So whenever somebody says 'I love you', they can mean it. Those words don't have to be only associated with signifcant others (boyfriends, wives, lovers, etc.) That's not their only definition. Of course, they do apply there of course, but it is not limited to just that.
 
It makes me so frustrated when I tell people I love them and they say "no you don't". It doesn't really mean that they don't believe me. They just assume I mean in the romantic sense of love, which is most certainly not the case in the majority of situations in which this occurs. In my mind, I must inform everybody whom I appreciate and care for, that I love them. You never know what is going to happen and if I love them, I want them to know. Shrugging me off as silly for telling you that hurts me deeply. I truly love all of my friends and my family. Yes, there has been romantic love in the past, and most of those ended up returning into friendship love. I still love a lot of my ex-boyfriends. They have remained friends through the years and I still care for them, but not in the same way.
 
I guess this post is just trying to say: Don't tell people not to be in love. It doesn't always mean what you think it means and yes, you can say 'I love you' to anybody who you think deserves your love. Love is a many-sided thing and can not be limited because some peoples' minds cannot comprehend the greatness that it is. Love is just that incredible.
 
You may notice that there is a part one in the title of this post. That is because there is also going to be a part two, posted in a few days (actually, it will probably be tomorrow!) Part one was consisting of the variety of love, not romantic love. Part two will be romantic love. So be ready for that whirlwhild!
 

Much love and hugs,

Sam