w h a t l o v e i s

I’m redefining a number of words
and concepts I learned first growing up
but now realize are woeful wrong
or oversimplified to a criminal fault
 
Love, for example, is more than a word
more than feeling
more than an instinct or singular act
It is looking and choosing again and again to see the very best
version of someone and consistently
fanning that flame in them to help
bring it out
 
It is filled with compromise and fear
high highs and low lows
It is adventure and joy
as well as sorrow, you know?
And you have to let each day die with the sun
You have to let each morning begin on its own
Let things go and give into the millions of second chances
nature naturally gives us
 
No one is perfect—and sometimes we are worse
than our average
but if you commit your love to another person
you should consider that you’ve committed with it
the promise to keep searching for that spark
of brilliance in them
You should commit to keep pushing their best parts
into the sun
So that no matter what happens, at the end of everything
you’ll each be the better for having loved
each other
 
and to me, as of now,
that is what it means
to love