I've heard so many people ask, "What is love?" The answer isn't one so easily given. It's not something you can pass off as 'just a feeling.' I've heard people describe it as such, but others have gone on to describe it as a state of mind, a reaction to hormonal influences, or even a way of life. I don't particularly believe all that to be true. I am sorry to say that I can't give a true meaning to the word, but, in kind, I can give my opinion.

Love, to me, is difficult to describe because I can't honestly say I've experienced the thing in its purest fashion. I'm biased, and because of this, I say that love is more, or less, a poison. This is a metaphor, however. Love will not kill you, but put this feeling into the right person and mix it with the right circumstances and you have a very deadly concoction. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, love can be the greatest miracle cure known to mankind. If the person cares and loves enough then even the worst scars can heal. Now, again, bear in mind again that this is only a metaphor. Love isn't a salve or cream, it's not an injection or pill, nor is it a supplement or drink. Love is, and always will be, a feeling.

Love is an enigma. Its true depths and mysteries can't be explored or even imagined. You may try, but just when you think you've explored it thoroughly or thought of everything possible, someone somewhere will always come up with a new twist or spin, and this will throw your theory into the wind. Love is such a strange, and frightening, creature. It's the most feared in the realm of feelings, and also one of the most experienced.

Throughout our lives we will all experience love. It will occur many of times, and with that love we will always find pain and suffering. This feeling acts as a double-edged blade. You can name any situation where love is involved and you will find great feelings of happiness, but if you look deeper you will also see the painful side to love. Take, for instance, a family member. Everyone loves their family. But, what if your family shunned you or outcast you? What if your family was included in a tragic accident and they all perished and you were left alone? That love would cause you great pain. Depending on the degree of love you feel for someone, or something, also correlates to the amount of pain you will feel in the end. It's a fact.

You think there will never be an end? There are two cold, hard facts in life: 1) There is always a beginning, and 2) There is always an end. It's not something that can be changed. Relationships, time, life, love; anything you can think of has a beginning and an end. In my experiences love has taught me one thing, and that is to never fall. It won't eliminate the pain your life because you will always have love. You may not think about it, but you will. I don't necessarily mean the love of a husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend. You have the love of family, the love of life, and the love of this or that. When you realize that there is always someone or something that you will love in your life you will realize also that you will always have pain. This pain will always be associated with whatever your object of love is. Again, this is a fact. It is impossible to say that you will never hurt from loving something, because I can prove you wrong.

It's a motivator and also a decimator. I can attest to this because I've experienced a gamut of feelings from the plethora that love induces. I've been a witness to the horrors and wonders this emotion inspires. It's all around us, this thing we call love, and it's used as an excuse, a weapon, a comfort, a vice. In the news a man is arrested for killing his wife in a crime of passion. Love is the deciding factor. Had this man not loved this woman and wed her then he wouldn't be jailed for the horrendous actions he took. In the newspapers a mother lifts a car to save her trapped child. Love is the motivator in this scenario. Had this mother not cared this much for her child she wouldn't have been able to produce the adrenaline needed to push her muscles into overdrive to lift the vehicle from the child's trapped body. Maybe these things aren't really true, but one can only wonder if they really are.

As for me, I look down on love. I want to feel it, just as any other red-blooded human would, but I fear it and loathe it. I know of its dark possibilities and I want none of them. However, I know that love has the capability to help me through this rough and depressing life that I'm enduring. I know it can show me light that I thought never existed, but in order for it to do that I'd need to seek it out, endure many pains that I don't believe I can endure, and I would have to strive for limitations that I can't reach. So, in this opinionated explanation, you can see that I am biased. I don't force my opinions or ideas upon anyone about this confusing and painful emotion, but more so express them in an 'outside the box' fashion so that everyone can see all aspects. I don't want anyone to fall for the sweet whispers and promises of a feeling, or emotion, which can also inspire incredible pain. I want everyone to know that love is, and always will be, a double-edged blade. You have to be careful with it. You have to handle it with extreme caution. It's a dangerous thing.

I know this, because I still carry the scars from being cut so many times. These cuts and scars run deep. Very, very deep, in fact. So, please, be careful and take care of your heart. Try to keep the sharp edges away, if you can, and concentrate on the beauty that is the blade and hilt of this emotion.