Personal Narrative Essay on Love

What is the word love? Love. It’s a noun and can often a verb. It’s a word people use for many things, most commonly used for telling each other how we feel about them. The word has a powerful meaning behind it. According to a Psychologist, they believe “To love someone means to really care about that person, to be enamored by them. Love can be platonic or romantic, but it means to understand who that person is and cherish them for it.” But sometimes love doesn't mean what it should, sometimes the word is used so carelessly. We hear the word so often we forget it's supposed to have such a powerful meaning behind it, it's more than just four letters thrown together, It points ever so weakly at the strongest emotion we allow ourselves to feel but sometimes we misuse and abuse the word, slowly changing its power and turning it into just another word.

The word love has power; enough power to make even the sanest people go insane. We come to learn this word at such an early age. As children, our parents tell us they love us, we tell our friends we love them, you might even tell your boyfriend or girlfriend you love them. But what if the person who told you they loved you breaks your heart? What if the person who tells you they love you leaves you? But didn’t they say they loved you? But I thought love was such a potent emotion, I thought the word had such significant power behind it? Why? Does the word not mean the same thing to you as it means to me? How come it's the ones we love that hurt us the most? Maybe love doesn’t mean what we think it does, maybe it is simply just another word. We love the things that make us happy. Dad left because he and Mom weren’t happy anymore they no longer loved each other like they once did. It happens. Sometimes we fall out of love with people. But what happened to “till death do us apart” were those also just words. But Dad left so he would be happy. I want him to be happy. But our definitions of happiness are not the same, my dad brought me happiness. He made me happy, but he didn't feel the same. His happiness had a different definition. His happiness didn't include me. But kids are supposed to make their parents happy right? Parents are supposed to have unconditional love for their kids right? He still loves me right or is his definition of love also different from mine? Soon he’ll stop coming to my soccer games, and my school ceremonies, and soon all my calls will just go to voicemail, and my texts will no longer get responses, there will be no more birthday letters and I will wish for the same thing every year when I blow out my candles, I will wish for the love my dad once had for me to return every year until I slowly come to understand the meaning and power behind the word love is nothing more than what a person gives it. We use sometimes words that have beautiful strong meanings with the cruelest intentions. And so where the word love was once used to describe such a strong powerful emotion has now been replaced with hate. Soon he’ll stop coming to my soccer games, and my school ceremonies, and soon all my calls will just go to voicemail, and my texts will no longer get responses, there will be no more birthday letters and I will wish for the same thing every year when I blow out my candles, I will wish for the love my dad once had for me to return every year until I slowly come to understand the meaning and power behind the word love is nothing more than what a person gives it. They say there is a fine line between love and hate. They are perfect antonyms for each other meaning the exact opposite from the other. When you love someone, THEY are all you think about but when you hate someone IT’S all that you can think about.

Two words, two of the strongest emotions with opposite meanings end up having the same effect. When we are younger, we are taught that words are just letters put together to create a sound, most kids are taught “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” but the older we get the more we realize how wrong that catchy little jingle is. Words hurt. Words are potent, they have power behind them. Words can build or tear down anything they please. Words can easily be manipulated, they can be used to create lies, and they can hurt us. The words that once had power now mean nothing and the words that once had the power to heal us, and fill our hearts with immense joy, now hurt us and leaves us alone and heartbroken.God will use words and create light and the devil will use the same words and create darkness, how do the same words have different meanings behind them? How can two antonyms be synonyms? Why do you hate someone you once loved? Why do you love the person you should hate? Why does the word “love” always leave people feeling the most pain? But they said words would never hurt me... I said words would never hurt me... But the words are hurting. Words aren't physical they aren't leaving me with bruises or scratches, they aren't breaking my bones, but they breaking me, they are breaking me on the inside, they are slowly destroying me, they are slowly destroying my happiness, they are breaking my trust, they are taking away my confidence, they have left me sitting alone lost in the darkness. The same words I once thought meant something no longer mean anything. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

I used to think Those three simple words made up of only eight letters were beautiful. I used to trust those words, but I no longer trust them because I have learned they can be twisted and used against you. We are puppeteers, and words are our puppets. We give the words life, and we create the happiness, the pain, the sorrow, the emotion behind each word and we can easily strip a word of its power leaving it as just another word. Beautiful words no longer mean beautiful things. Words that once made us smile now make us cry, words that once meant something now mean nothing. And just like that the word “love” once having such powerful meaning behind it, now means the same as “liking” it no longer carries such a powerful meaning behind it. We have stripped it of its beauty leaving it as just another word in the dictionary.