true love

what does it mean to love, anyway?

to put someone else's happiness before your own?

surely not to neglect care for oneself for the sake of someone else?

where do we learn to love?

where does unconditional come from?

not from the blood.

because it isn't in the memories of every grown up.
some people got bruises instead of kisses.

it isn't in the ways we fill an emptiness,
not in the ways we cling to a reason to keep going,
not in the ways we construct gestures of expression,
not in any of the words we use.

not in the ways we fulfill physical desires.
yet it's thrown around as an answer to all the world's ills.

i am still learning how to love.

i am still learning how to love myself.

i am still learning how to love myself despite the mistakes i make
because perfection is not in the attainment
but in the experiment
my personal participation in the ways the human spirit unfolds,
collaborating to create the stories of who we are.
delighting in and learning from every aspect that comes
from discovering better ways to
extend
my heart.

so,
yes,
love is the reason worth living
but do not just focus on one way that it can manifest.
any relationship has the potential for true love.