In today’s society, the word “love” is tossed around like a bouncy ball amongst friends, families, and lovers. It used to have significant meaning beneath the four letters that every couple fears saying to one another for the first time. One would expect that two people could say “I love you” and actually mean it after, let’s say, six to eight months. Nowadays, it seems as though the four insignificant letters are empty and shallow as they escape the mouths of people all across the country. But hey, who cares? Who’s to say that after two weeks two people can’t love each other? No one, really. Those two people may receive some skeptical glances, but whatever floats their boat works for me.

What is love? Like, for real. What is love really? A warm fuzzy feeling one experiences when around their significant other? Sure. Unending attraction their looks? Not so much. An intense feeling of deep affection? Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Love is the strongest, most powerful emotion that a person will feel throughout their entire life. Between two people, there’s no questioning of infidelity or adultery; but only if there is no lack of true love. Over the years, the word “love” itself has been turned into a term teenage girls say to one another when they’re gossipping about each other’s boyfriends. It’s been twisted and warped into a term the older generations don’t even recognize anymore. When our grandparents were our age, love was a feeling that came on when they had been together for three years and were preparing to get married. Now, love is a common feeling between two teenagers that supposedly “mean it.”

Throughout a young adult’s academic career, they are often exposed to famous playwrights such as William Shakespeare, whose plays were world renowned in respect to warped tales of forbidden love and tragic deaths. But as it turns out, lovers that were equally as star-crossed as Romeo and Juliet can be found in today’s history books.

When one sees a couple strolling down the sidewalk hand-in-hand, laughing and smiling, and enjoying each other’s company, what is the common reaction? For today’s young adults; “They’re so lucky. I wish I had that.” The presence of balance, respect, harmony, and devotion is what makes relationships like that possible. Absence of these qualities can throw off the delicate flow of balance within a relationship, and cause it to go down in flames.

In today’s society, a person can watch the news and learn about the war overseas, murders occurring all over the country, suicides, homicides, drugs, alcohol, etc., and it really kind of dampens the whole illusion of safety within their own home. Sometimes, I wish the news broadcasters would talk about more positive things, like a common couple getting married in Fiji, or the President and his wife spent the weekend with their two daughters vacationing in the Bahamas. Love is a presence that every person requires in their life in order to function properly. It doesn’t matter what age. The nurturing feeling that comes along with love is what keeps everyone sane. The knowledge that someone cares for you gives a person a certain sense of security that, quite literally, keeps them from going insane.

When you hear the word “love”, what thoughts come to mind? Words like violence, abuse, disrespect, obedience, and superiority probably aren’t among the thoughts you experience. What about passion? Balance, respect? Romance, even? There’s a famous quote that was spoken by an unknown source; “Where there is love, there is life.” Is this particular phrase true? I find it to be spot-on. In the presence of love, there is so much happiness that seems to be contagious, and spreads like a wildfire in a desert. Although the word “love” has been twisted and warped through time, it still holds the same powerful feeling that unites people around the world. This universal term is one that will never fade with time.