It’s peculiar how love can take a hold of you. It locks you in its grasp, sometimes so tightly that it’s hard to breathe. But the release gives way to moments of pure ecstasy.
This year, I’ve been thinking a great deal about love. Most innately, I wonder if love has the power to cure all states of negative emotion. When I’m low, love seems to sweep me upwards, like a hummingbird, towards the sky. If I’m stuck in rumination, a lover’s embrace can break the most stringent of cycles, bringing me back into the present moment.
Unlike alcohol or other drugs, the symptoms of love, in its best state, are wholly beneficial. Acceptance, self-care, and openness seem to stem from love when it is given to us in its purest form. By that, I mean love should be unconditional, so as not to disturb the balance of power. If love comes with conditions, you may want to question its validity and interrogate why you accept love in a diluted vapour. Maybe self-love in this instance is what your soul craves and your body longs to adorn.
If you grew up in an unsafe environment, you may be wary of love. When offered true love, some will become sceptical, through no fault of their own. Perhaps the lens through which you observed love was jaded by untrained practitioners. Our parents are not always the greatest exemplars of love, and instead, we may need to experience it, in order to create our own worldview. If it’s safety that you crave, I would argue that love, when offered unconditionally and without ulterior motives, can provide a blanket on top of which you can rest your weary head.
Of course, love comes in many shapes. For many, self-love can be the ultimate tonic, by which to purify the soul. For others, love, or the expression of it, comes through art. Songs, paintings, literature and any other work of art, can exemplify love in it’s most complete form. When you’re lost, a work of art can warm the soul and hold you with a silent embrace.
Love is an unusual entity. It comes in an array of forms and can catch you completely off guard. Yet, its dichotomy lies in its fleeting nature and lasting effect. It cannot be commodified or tainted and therefore may be the greatest drug on earth.