Webster's Dictionary simply defines the word "love" as "a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person." Imagine the feeling you get when you tell someone you really care about that you love them for the very first time. Happiness, nerves and maybe slight worry or embarrassment all combine into one indescribable feeling. You may feel this feeling in your chest as it gets tight, or your stomach gets butterflies, or your hands get sweaty whenever you are near the person that you are in love with. Telling them took weeks, maybe months of thoughts and "what if's" and when you finally say it, it's the most amazing feeling you could ever imagine. So why is it that we overuse the word "love," which we say to other humans on a day-to-day basis, when it comes to objects?
How can one small, four-letter word have so many similar yet different meanings? You don't "love" your significant other they same way you "love" your favorite movie. Or when your best friend recommends you a new book and by the third chapter you've fallen in "love" with the story. It means very similar things in the fact that you are very drawn to, attracted to, or fond of something but different in the fact that material things cannot be loved in the same way other human beings can. But why is that?
Can we feel the same excitement towards that coffee shop we "love" down the street that we feel towards the family member that we "love?" I'm sure that the same excitement can be felt, but when it comes down to emergency situations, it's not the same. If you heard that that coffee shop down the street from your house was closing down business, you would be sad and disappointed but your day-to-day life wouldn't be too vastly affected. But if your mother called you in the middle of a work day to tell you that your grandparents were in a terrible car accident, the love for your family members would immensely outweigh any spreadsheet or presentation you had to do at work that day and you would be driving to the hospital to check on them.
Or when you go clothes shopping and tell your friends that you "love" that blue shirt displayed on the mannequin in the store window, but find the willpower to turn it away because the price tag is too high for your budget. Is that really "love?" In today's society, humans over-popularize the word "love" almost to the point that it seems meaningless to say it to the ones you truly care about. The youth population in the 21st century tell their middle school girlfriends and boyfriends that they "love" each other before the first date. The word "love" should be kept for special circumstances. When we use it so often during our daily lives the feeling, emotion and compassion behind the word is lost.
There is nothing wrong with love. Love is a beautiful, indescribable, overpowering emotion that we, as a human race are fortunate enough to feel and experience firsthand. If you're lucky enough to love someone, make sure you tell them and make it as meaningful as you possibly can. Think about how much you "love" something before you say that you do.
