Love. A million meanings. Each human has been touched by this one word.

Love is one of the many essentials of life but is many times forgotten. We get in such a hurry in life to fill voids within ourselves but is it all really more important than a life of true love.

It can be anything from those notorious butterflies to the warmth you feel in a home. Conversations with a friend you never expected to find but can't imagine living without.

Tears of joy or tears of sadness, is love not at the bottom of it all? Love of place, thing, action, or person. Love and passion are the fuel to our drive day in and day out.

We love our family, friends, neighbors, significant others, and ourselves. Some are able to love every stranger they pass by while others have wounds that prevent love from blossoming. Safety and comfort become more important than the warmth and uncertainty of passion.

Large hearts to wounded hearts all alike are bruised, scraped, scratched, beaten, and broken somewhere along the timeline. But those hearts also heal, grow, blossom, and love. So which side of this battle do you decide to focus on?

Is love even possible without pain, would we understand emotions like joy and happiness without the mixing of pain and love? Would love be the same if we never would feel loss?

So for those enjoying that safety where you keep your emotions controlled, it's okay to be scared. Love is being scared. Because you know that love is putting your heart, soul, and mind vulnerable to something or someone else. You have to let go of control. It's not easy.

But the more pain you feel, the more precious and amazing the feeling is when you find that one true love in your life. A heart can be broken in more ways to count, but healing is always possible. And I believe that healing is done through love. Loving yourself, loving life, and loving people.