When you're handed some of life's greatest mysteries, the time it takes to seek an answer can range from seconds to an entire lifetime. You may be six-years-old with a perfect sense of how the world works. Or perhaps it'll take 70 years to discover your true passion. The beauty of growing up is having the opportunity to solve these mysteries in your own way, and on your own time. One of the most complicated questions of all revolves around one simple word: love.

“What is love?”

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of this affectionate emotion, the team at SoulPancake gathered participants from the ages of 0 to 105 to share their personal definitions of love. At first, this question gave way to nervous giggles and lengthy pauses. However, with a bit of thought, here is what they came up with.

"Actually I'm not really sure how to answer this question." -Age 10

“I think love is just a form of God." -Age 95

“Well if you’re talking family-wise, it means everything. But if you’re talking like marriage… I mean, you can be single. That’s kind of what I want to do.” -Age 7

“The first thing I want to do is say, ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry.’” -Age 59

“You can love yourself first. But once you learn how to love yourself, you can love anything in this world.” -Age 58

“It means… in a funny way freedom, because you’re free to feel so many feelings so deeply.” -Age 65

“I would say I’d rather love someone than be in love with someone, because being in love with someone implies that you can fall out of it.” -Age 19

“If you see them as your family, then that’s love.” -Age 23

"Love means, to me, a big ol' kiss on your mouth and you're not against it at all." -Age 17

“I'm married 55 years; our job in life, the two of us, is to look after each other and see through it that we are our best selves.” -Age 80

“Love means a lot to me. It means a lot. I love my family, my grandchildren. All of that, it means a lot.” -Age 105

Age has been said to be just a number, but where would we be without one year's worth of love? How about 50 years? The meaning of love between every individual is unique and perfectly imperfect. And of course, your definition may very well change throughout your life. Whether you feel love is an act of dependency, craziness, affection, freedom, partnership, restoration, or any other term in the book, let it inspire you to become an even greater version of yourself. Let love strengthen your years. What does love mean to you?