Is it Impossible Not to Love?

by M. B., Grafton, MA

Thyra Winslow said it best, "Platonic love is love from the neck up." Love. It is impossible for someone not to love something or someone. Whether it is a person, an animal, music, a subject or a certain activity, love is somewhere and everywhere in a person. It can be a positive or negative commodity.

The love for another human is basically programmed into our lives. We are raised knowing that we love our relatives and friends. We love our pets and other animals. Love is just another part of life we accept. Teenagers are known for loving their music. They primarily devote their lives to the melodies that float through the air. A college student who wants to pursue a degree will major in an area s/he loves. Athletes love to do sports. Love is accepted.

Negatively speaking, love can hurt. Becoming too attached to a person can result in deranged individuals. When one devotes one's entire life to one cause, one has no future if that cause dies and one is left loving the memories. But, if this element of power motivated the victim to achieve work never done before, there is no harm done. People who hate everything and everyone love to hate everything.

Love is a weapon, to be used and abused by everyone. It can create a small scar, such as a lost friendship. To the other extreme, it can make a fatal wound like the loss of a lived one. Nevertheless, such wounds can be healed by the power of a newfound love. Oscar Wilde believed that "Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer."

Love knows no color, race, sex, religion, breed, tense or part of speech. There is a type of love for every category. You cannot be marked wrong or individualized because of your love for something. "It is said that love is blind." So why does what you love even matter? People discriminate against others over their love of what they choose to worship or believe. Some are jealous, others just plain love to be envious.

Some tend to find this thing some call rapture more easily than others. We all deal with it. Whether it is an everyday encounter or a once-in-a-lifetime skirmish, we all have confronted love. As Anais Nin said, "What I cannot love, I overlook."