One of the most complex and controversial facets of the human existence is the ability to love. As far as we're concerned, we're the only creatures capable of such a deep and intense emotion. And then there are humans that are incapable of love. We're basically told our entire lives that feeling love is paramount to the most amazing thing ever. Basically, a life without love is missing something.
But, is love really that simple? I mean, when people say that your life will be incomplete without love do they really mean love between two people? Is that it? We're not only limited in the fact that we have to feel love, we also have to find it with another person?
Now first, let me just say, there's a difference between romantic love and non-romantic love. In the big scheme of things, I guess it's really not that different, but for the moment let's pretend that it is. I love my dog, but I don't have any interest in marrying my dog. Would I be happy waking up to my dog every morning? Sure! But, it's different. My dog isn't a person. I can't talk to my dog. I mean, I can (and do) but it's not a conversation.
Maybe you have a better mastery on dog language, but for my purposes no conversations are to be had with the dog. The friendly mutt is limited to barking, slobbering, and panting for conversational excellence. And that's just fine. It doesn't change the fact that I love my dog. In fact, sometimes I love my dog more than people. But, she's a dog.
My friends are great people. I love them. I wouldn't trade them (well, most of them) for the world. They make me happy and I'm glad to know them. But, sometimes loving my friends is hard. They test my patience and do things that I would love nothing more than to slap them upside the head for. I still love them.
So, maybe my problem is that I love too much. I care too much. I've been accused of not caring at all by a multitude of people. But, it's just the opposite. I have to stop myself from caring, because if I do I care with my entire being. It's all consuming. There becomes no part of me that does not care about the issue at hand. So, maybe I am heartless. Maybe I am just a cold, unloving person because I force myself to not care.
But, let me ask you this: Just because I push people away, just because I don't want to be consumed by something, does that mean that I do not want to love, or that I am incapable of it? I think I'm just as capable as anyone else. I think that I have just as much potential to love. And I think that loving something in a completely non-romantic way is sometimes so much easier than loving something in a romantic way. Romantic love hurts. It makes you care and then it destroys you. So, yes, I think love is important and great and an amazing thing. But, loving my dog is just as important as loving my boyfriend in a lot of ways. And yes, I do love them both. Probably more than I should.
