Some quotes about Love--for those of you who laugh at its power. (EARTH EDITION!)

Private to Laguna

On this campus, it's not so much that there is a lack of love as it is that we're all... well, here, stating that something is good, that you 'love' something, is like an invitation to get it destroyed. Luck seems to hate all of us a lot of the time.

Besides, loving things can be so much harder than indifference or hate. There's certain amounts of vulnerability that caring for others leaves you open to, and none of us are truly equipped to deal with that kind of vulnerability. As students, and young people growing up as some of us have, we've learned that showing any weakness can get you, or worse, that which you care about, destroyed. It's sad that we can't get past that, but survival tends to win out in the end.

So there's not a lack of love on this campus so much as there is us trying to keep that sort of thing quiet, to protect it. If you ask around, a lot of people don't say they 'love' something, but the ratio of people willing to die for some ideal or personal thing is very high, compared to most colleges. I think we're all a little different than your average student-- we're all from different places and walks of life, but we all know or have known some type of force that prevents us from wanting to say anything, in case it hurts us or someone else.

Basically, it's not a lack of love as much as it is a fear of either it or the consequences.

Private to Sellz

The points you raise have validity, however, the fact that no one has been there to tell you that, hey, it's okay to love, even if it does get destroyed in the end, because... well, it'd happen anyway. I've loved and lost a lot in my days, including a wife, and in some ways, a son. And, hell, that was more my fault than half your experiences ever were yours (speaking of the generic, all-around "you", of course).

The fact of the matter is this: Pain comes to everyone, whether they love, hate, are loved, or are hated. But all the negativity in the world WINS when the youth of a time are so jaded from situations in their lives that they lock up their feelings and merely say they hate.

It's not better to have loved and lost, I'm not sayin' that, but it's certainly better than pretending you hate everything or care about nothing and passing up every opportunity that comes your way for just one moment of happiness. Because with all the darkness is the world(s), and all the hate, it'll be that small, tiny moment when everything was okay that you'll remember. And it's something that should be shown with pride, because quite frankly, it's a dishonor to the person/people you care for, or even the mere beliefs you would die for.

As much as I miss my Raine, as much as it hurts, I would never dishonor her by claiming to love nothing, and to hate everything.

Private to Laguna

Be that as it may, some of us have had people tell us it's okay. I'm one of those. (From here on, I'll be speaking mostly from my own experience, as I'm sure others have a different one.) However, that was so long ago, and we forget those lessons when we lose someone we care for to someone who hates us. I've seen several of my friends die at the hands of someone who simply wanted to hurt me, and I don't think I'll never see it again. But I never truly hid my feelings-- sometimes you can't come out and say so, so you show in your actions what someone means to you. There are a few people on this campus that I would protect from anything-- only one of which is any sort of romantic interest--, and that sort of thing... you can't come out and say it. Its value is lost when you say so. Actions being louder than words but keeping enemies deaf.

I've never been able to outright tell my boyfriend that I love him, but I know he knows just as if I'd said so. For the reasons I stated earlier, it's simply not very safe to make such things open. But everyone knows through our actions, not through our words. I love a lot of people and a lot of things, and I'd never seriously profess to hate them.

After all, you're talking to the girl whose boyfriend is in a constant state of leaving, possibly forever. I've managed to collect quite a few memories-- and not all of them are meaningful to anyone but me--, and I know that eventually those are all I'll have. A few of us know that lesson, and a few of us are learning it as we attend here. But the lesson itself is hard; to realize that everyone will eventually go on, and eventually you will end up alone-- it's one of the hardest lessons I've ever had to learn, never mind its value, and it takes time. I think that might be one of the things you can't learn from others-- only from experience. We'll all learn it sooner or later, be it years before we ever lose anyone or when we die, ourselves.

Private to Sellz

But, see, you validated my point right there: Whether or not you'll end up alone in the end is really debatable because it's only if you allow yourself to be alone.

You're all so young (or have the mentality of one so young) that everything's just black and white. You love, or you don't. You're happy or you're not. It's not that simple.

Maybe actions speak louder than words, but if you don't learn how to speak your mind, for better or for worse, you'll forget how. And as you forget how to communicate those feelings verbally, you'll lose it physically as well, and thus you'll become no more than an empty shell. All of you are striving so hard to become that empty shell, and it's sad, because you know what? Yeah, people you love have been killed, or hurt... by someone out to hurt you and you alone, but guess what? It could be worse. You're here, you're ALIVE, you're warm, you have friends and mentors and a boyfriend (his threatening flightiness aside), and I'm sure they'd do everything they could for you.

Private to Laguna

Except we will. Unless you believe in some afterworld where everyone meets again (which I don't), for the most part we all live, and love, and then we go our separate ways-- and usually those ways are paths we have to walk alone. Everyone eventually dies except those who are out of that loop (and there are a few of us at this campus), and even they seem to lose what makes them human if they're alive too long. Time insists that we all die, either emotionally or physically. If you're lucky, you die with a lot of memories of loved ones. If not, well...

I don't disagree that we do see things in black-and-white, but that's another lesson that we all have to learn-- that you can love someone and hate them at the same time, that there's a lot of bittersweetness in the world. It's not something that can be accelerated because only personal experience will teach it.

I don't discount others, but I've learned that part of love is to trust, and you have to trust yourself, too. We start out as empty shells and by benefit of nothing but our own experience, we become full. But we're all like the moon in that respect-- we empty and fill, repeatedly. Gain and lose, gain and lose-- that's what makes us what we will become, is being able to cope with loss and work to regain what was lost or destroyed.

But sometimes if you lose someone, you can't regain them. People may start to hate you and refuse to be swayed. Until we all find true purposes, something that we're made to work for, we're going to be this way, learning through cycles. Then we'll mature, find our goals, and we'll grow in a more permanent way.

I see where you're coming from, but I'm sure you have more experience with this sort of thing than most of us-- and we have a lot of lessons to learn and a lot of paths to walk ahead of us. That's the benefit of youth, after all.

Private to Sellz

You will always have someone. Maybe not who you started out with, but you will always have someone, somewhere, thinking of you. And if you hold on to your happiest memories, even in your loneliest times, you will never truly be alone. Just because you don't have a significant other doesn't mean you're -alone-.

That's another matter of black and white. I was at the store yesterday, and while I was standing in line, I was listening to these two girls in front of me whine and complain because their lives were so, so miserable because, oh no, they didn't have boyfriends. Yeah, I think you know this already, but love doesn't apply to just boyfriends and girlfriends, fiances, or husbands and wives. Love is our friends, who stay by our sides no matter how vicious we are to them. Love is our children, who we may be horrible to, but somewhere, deep in their hearts they'll still love us eternally. Love is our parents, who may have been horrible to us, but we will always have the smallest shred of love for them.

Just because you lose someone doesn't mean they're not with you, even if it's only in spirit. Memories, Sellz, memories. Where would we be without memories?

But yes, you kids have a lot to learn, and always, you won't listen to a thing adults tell you. It's charming, and frustrating all in one!

Private to Laguna

Heh, you adults aren't much better. Youth isn't always equal to naivete, after all. Just trust that your words are being considered seriously and will eventually become something we incorporate ourselves. After all, if you look around on the network you've already made some of us think.

But I come from a place that, when you die, you don't become a spirit. You become more power for those who kill you. I suppose if I were to look at it in your light, things aren't quite so bleak, but that's how it is.

Besides, the best love is the kind that comes from friends. I'd never choose romantic love over that of a friend; the best boyfriends/girlfriends/lovers were friends first, and are friends foremost. I wouldn't know a lot about family-- I haven't had one for a very, very long time. But what I remember, dim as it is, is equally important.

But on the same key, I've been without any of that, too. There's always worse to undergo, of course, but human nature is such that any low is too low. We're always seeking to be happier-- it's a nice ideal, but we hopefully eventually learn to make others happy, too.

When you've never known any better, then, yeah, I can't fault you for that.

But you wait, if you're human, I don't care what your walk of life is, you'll taste love too. Your life will change completely, then, as it does with every learning experience. One is not complete until you've had the chance to experience everything, including love.

I wish I knew as much about love as you, Professor Loire. But it all sounds so confusing. And the pain... I am not sure I am able to handle it again.

Love's a pretty confusing thing, but even though love hurts, it's still the best feeling in the world. Love, and the pain love brings... you simply don't live until you've experienced it.