Pt 2. On Love

This is part two of a two-part series in which I view love and hate.
If you have not read part one, I suggest you do so before continuing to read this.

Any coward can hate everyone else, but it takes courage to love anyone else.

What is love?
You can have arguably the best dictionary on Earth, but the answer is simple: it cannot be defined. Love isn't a rigid, coarse object like hate. It is ever-changing and shrouded in gray areas.
As teens, many of us are quick to say we "love" someone or something (such as food, music, books, etcetera). As far as a relationship goes, three days- or even one- generally doesn't induce love. However, oh-so-often we are quick to say how much in love with our significant other we are within a week of dating.
If you thought this post was going to be violets and daisies, you've been mislead. Although, I'm not trying to be "Mister Bitter Single Guy" either.
Have we thrown around the word "love" so frivilously that it has lost its pure meaning? We've made it synonymous with liking someone, thinking they're cute, or even something more physical than anything else.
It happens, and, for the most part, all of us are guilty of it.
Some may say "But Mister Bitter Single Guy, what *insert name of significant other* and I have is different. We do truly love each other."
If everyone says their relationship is different from the others (which they do) and say their relationship is true love (which they also do), then they are, in fact, the same.
Can we say that we have experienced love? Not for certain.
Can we say that we haven't experienced love? Again, not for certain.
Society as a whole tends to tell teens that we're too young to know what love is. Can this be true?
If we are too young, then what is the age limit for love? Or how will we know what it is when we do feel it?
And, most importantly, are we only limited to romantic love?
Pure love is not a definite, measurable force. We cannot chain it down to a solid equation or explanation.
It could be in many different forms as well.
A young couple holding hands at a high school football game.
An elderly married couple who have been together for a majority of their lives.
A woman who still reads over the war letters from the man she wishes she had married.
A friend who stands by you when everything else has fallen apart, and builds you up when you're broken.
A person who pulls a complete stranger out of the path of a vehicle on a crosswalk.
A mother or father holding a their newborn child.
A family.
Another human.

Love in its purest way cannot be explained.
It can be both simple and complex.
Gather your courage, let go of any hatred, live your life with an open mind and heart, and then you will experience pure love.
It's not easy, but who said it would be?

Pt. 1: On Hate

This is part one of a two-part series in which I view love and hate.
Some may wonder why I chose to start with hate, and the answer is simple: you see much more hate than love on the ten o' clock news.
Hate corrupts.
It corrupts the body, contorting it with rage and hostility.
It corrupts the mind, polluting it with mental filth and clouding our rationality.
It corrupts the soul, turning it into a snapping, dangerous animal.
Why is it that humans hate? Is it our differences? The way we look and talk? What we believe and think?
Consider the snowflakes, each one being unique. Not one hates another for its differences. One is not individually scrutinized over the other because of its shape, temperature, or manner of falling. They all come together in quiet harmony to create something beautiful.
Some might say "But Mister Metaphor, there are no ethnic snowflakes."
If you're one of those people then you've overanalyzed.
The snowflakes represent humans as humans free of labels based on religion, race, gender, lifestyle, and nationality.
But why is it we cling to these labels instead of recognizing one another as individual beings?
There's a multitude of possibilities. Fear. Ignorance. Generalization. Demonization. The list goes on.
It has been said that Muslims are taught to hate Americans, but are we self-righteous enough to say we aren't being taught to hate?
If you ask the question "Who destroyed the Twin Towers?" in the United States, the overwhelming answer would be "The Muslims," or "The Muslim terrorists."
In a way, by either propaganda or ignorant misuse of terms, we have learned hatred.
We should be learning to love one another as humans instead of constantly bickering about each others' uniqueness.
Every snowflake forms as an ice crystal.
No exceptions.
Every snowflake melts.
No exceptions.

Any coward can hate everyone else, but it takes courage to love anyone else.