LOVE CAN BE
Love can be many things.
Love can be an interest. It is wanting to know one another better, even if it feels awkward at first. It is as simple as asking, “How are you?” and talking about the weather. Then doing the same the next time, and the next time; over and over again. It is seeking each other out at lunch hours every day, finding guilty satisfaction when they are alone or disappointment when they are with friends.
Love can ever present. It is the feeling you get when you think you’ve found the other in the hallway, only to realize he was someone else. It is walking by the other’s house everyday, wondering if he is at the window and if he noticed me. Sometimes, you find yourself deliberately slowing down or stopping to tie your shoes in front of his house. Other times, you don’t give much thought until you’ve already passed by.
Love can be the feeling of wanting to be together all the time, even when we knew we shouldn’t. It is asking the other to go out for dinner, even though you’re the girl and he’s the guy. It is the feeling of embarrassment when you find out he had been considering how to ask before you had.
Love can be the routine of seeking each other’s time each week, even if we were now busy with our own research in university, no longer burdened by the self-consciousness of who asks first. Some days are productive, while others are mostly spent in silence. Regardless, we seek each other out the next week.
Love can be tolerance. It is restraint when you know the other is busy. It is knowing when you need the other and when you should be left alone, however frustrating it is to them. It is knowing that youth is volatile, and being able to forgive the other after those times of volatility. And it is knowing that on some days, the other would prefer to hang out with other friends, and that it is not a slight to your companionship.
Love can be compromise. At times, it is the ability to interrupt yourself for the other, and at other times, let the other work uninterrupted. It is being able to compromise for each other’s time and their own ambitions, knowing they still cared for you even if you spend less time together. It is knowing whether your time is less flexible than his, and when that balance shifts to the other.
Love can be humble. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, and can be as simple as a genuine smile or hug everyday. It can be a small favor done without much fanfare, or without expectation that the other would notice. It can be frugal, exchanging small gifts as a side of our undivided attention.
Love can be intimate. It is knowing each other’s limits without asking. It is being unafraid as to when it is appropriate to touch one another, such as holding up my hair as I eat a bowl of ramen. It is being able to watch one another without feeling self conscious of your own stare. It is being able to share some of your darkest secrets, yet keep still some others to yourself.
Love can be strange. It is undefinable; different from person to person, and changes as they age. Sometimes, it defies expectations. Sometimes, you can feel yourself losing it, only to gain it back later. Your feelings for one another could start to intensify for no explicable reason. These feelings could intensify by different degrees at different time. Some days, you even find yourself questioning why you love him, and eventually, considering why he might love you. Often times, you may be left without an answer.
Love can be a celebration of human empathy. It is a celebration of each other’s accomplishments during our highs and the embracing sympathy and pity during each other’s lows. It is the feeling you get deep in your chest when you see him smile or hear his laughter, even amongst other friends. It is the moment you realize the other has asked you to remain with him the rest of your life.
Love can be painful. Knowing that one day, he will eventually have to leave you, or just as worse, you will have to leave him. It is painful when you realize the corner of the world you’ve created for the two of you is not impenetrable, dissimulating as the outside world breaks through. It is painful when you realize he may have to leave you much earlier than you expected, as duty calls for his service overseas.
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