Love

Love. What is it? What does it stand for? How can a four letter word hold so much weight, so much promise, so much happiness, yet so much hurt and mystery? How can a four letter word seem so small, yet larger than life? How can the entire essence of two peoples relationship be based on this four letter word? How powerful is this word that, it is said to be the answer to most of the world's problems?

I believe in love. I believe that whatever emotion or action; be it an act of kindness, soft spoken words, patience, or care that one performs without any ulterior motives or malice, is an act of love.

How come then, is this four letter word so difficult for people to experience, show , or even feel? How have we made it the most abominable thing to feel and the most expensive thing ever?

It is not easy to love and yet, it is the most easy thing to do. It comes naturally. In a typical African home, it is normally seen as an abnormality when a parent, especially the father, tells his children that he loves them, yet it seems so normal when he does things to actually show his love. In a typical African relationship, when a guy show's that he has fallen in love with whomever he is dating at that particular moment, it is normally seen as the most weird thing ever and thus he is soft. 

In a typical African marriage, when a man shows that he loves his wife by involving her in decision making and actually listening and using her suggestions, when a man shows concern and is considerate towards his woman, when a man helps his wife in performing house chores, it is always, most often than not, perceived that the woman has bewitched him. She has performed "juju" on him and has "turned his mind". Showing your significant other love or publicly displaying your affection for your significant other, is seen as a weakness, especially in a man. But I digress...

Why do we see love; something so sweet, so pure, so wonderful, so free, so beautiful, so enlightening, so blissful, so calming, and so enchanting, to be so weak, so so abominable, so insignificant, so "mere" that no importance should be attached to it.

Everybody needs love, I believe I do! It is what our souls live on. It is what our world thrives on. It is what our very being needs to make this world a better place. I believe that love is in all of us, we just have to seek it and let it show.

xo