Love Always, by Dale Langford
What do I know about love? I have no particular writings on it, nor do I have any clear philosophical resolutions (only musings plagued by doubts, haunted by dreams). I have been in love, or at least think I have, and recognize many loves as platonic, romantic, or a combination of both. Whether ‘love’ is a physical reality of pheromones and material bonds between brains and bodies, or a soul-tying merger between kindred spirits, it has been the adhesive of clan and culture across the ages.
So, what of the binary assumption? Love is ‘traditionally’ conveyed between two partners, give or take external family and cultural influences (which in many cases seek to tell us which pairings are acceptable). Yet, why must it be a ‘pair’? If you have the patience and imagination for it, the boundary of binary can be broken by a polygamous, or polyamorous, or label-less love that works for you. Love is like water; it can flow in the smallest cracks, and it can roar like a river. If you have the will to experience a love that embraces all the things you never knew about it, you’ll be as transcendental as the popular imaginary makes traditional love out to be.
The above is a reflection on love as concept, a relationship on a personal level for those involved. Love is strong, but we can forget love when we’re scared, or when we’re on edge in times which can be skewed as ‘nasty, brutish, and short’. Why seek love when you can’t feel free to live? In a world where jumping at shadows is expected, forcing you to shrink-back into comfort and banal familiarity, remembering love for strangers, for your enemies, for the weird looking freaks you wouldn’t want to ride an elevator alone with; love, and remembering love, is what will deliver us from fear and apathy. Love is what makes us a global community. It makes us a nation, a clan, a family; by its definition, love is the insoluble bond that we need to love. Seek to know love.