Love vs love

I used to think that Love was love.
But then I grew up.

I grew up, and I realized that Love and love are two very different emotions, with two very different meanings.
Now, I certainly did not come to this realization by my own accord, of course not. This lesson took time, and patience and, above all, experience. Experiences that I wouldn't necessarily classify as happy, despite their grand reward of wisdom.

My best friend Leslie and I, have been best friends since the beginning of grade ten. Although that gives us only two and a half years of best-friend-ship, I'm sure she would agree in that it feels as if we have known one another for a lifetime.
And in that lifetime, we have seen each other through a great deal of hardships, struggles, losses, smiles, tears, gains, and love.

At the age of fifteen, we feel as though we have ruled the world. We have endured fifteen years of experience, and now we are old enough to claim certainty on our feelings. At the age of fifteen, we are all grown up, and ready to experience the rest of what life hands us.
But at the age of fifteen, we are naive, because only with age and experience does wisdom and readiness come.

I believe it was Jordan Schriver, a friend of both mine and Leslie's, who introduced the difference to both of us; The difference between Love and love, I mean. I'm not particularly certain as to the context of his explanation, but essentially, he used capitalization as a visual form of explanation:

As humans, we have the ability to love, and we DO love. We come into this world being loved. We grow (hopefully) near people who love us. We are held with arms of love. When we cried, we were spoken to in loving tones. And as we grow older, we develop friendships and bonds with those closest to us. We learn to love them. We protect them, and are there for them, because they mean something to us. Because we care.

We learn the meaning of love at such a young age that it becomes second nature for us to love. We express this love through word, and we express this love through physical embrace, and eventually, we think nothing of it.

But dear friend, understand that there is a very different type of "love". And the act of confusing or infusing the two together is a very dangerous path. One to which I do not advise you take.

I had my very first crush when I was 5 years old. His name was Benjamin. I know what you're thinking; How can a five year old come to such a declaration of emotion, when they are not capable of recounting the definition of such a feeling. And that is exactly my point. I had a crush on this boy for 7 years. All the way up until grade 6. What did I like about him? Good question. I can't even tell you his last name anymore. I can scarcely remember what he looked like, but the only vivid memories I have in relation to this young boy, is myself giving a piece of paper to Mrs Miller, my teacher, reading " I love ben", before running into the girls' washroom with my good friend Erika.
Why did we hide? I suppose we simply felt it appropriate to run away from my confession of love.

So, it's safe to say that we can associate love with:
-Family
-Friends
-Crushes
-Inanimate Objects (Like my Dino Blanky... Yes, my childhood baby blanket that I carried with me everywhere, and whom still today resides under the covers to my bed)

But Love... Oh, Love, is a very dangerous word.
No, you shouldn't spend countless hours bulking up on muscle in order to defend yourself from this intimidating Capital L. But you SHOULD take the time to feed your heart, because there is no possible way that your biceps and deltoids will be able to defend that precious piece of your soul.

I can guarantee you, that if you ask 10 people around you, right this moment, if they have ever been in love with someone, 7-8 out of those 10 people, will say yes. Which is all fine and dandy, but ask those same 10 people that same 1 question in ten years from now, and I bet they will have fallen in love with a different person.

Love, my dear friend, is the kind of love that reveals your soul to the world. The kind of love that strips you from your clothing, and exploits you, for all the world to see. Love... Love is frustrating. It is never-ending, and ever-enduring. It is passionate, and it is possessive. It is angry, it is sad, it is consuming, overwhelming, and unbearably intense. But it is beautiful. Love happens with one person, at one time, and never again does that same Love come along.

"love" is a state of emotion, and our perception of this feeling changes each and every day. It is a drug. We love our family, and once that love becomes a part of us, we fall immune to it. And then we love our friends, and once again we feel love until it fades into our souls. And then we love our Benjamin's, but soon enough, that love has no effect on us.
And then we Love.
And Love never fades.

In no way am I saying that Alycia at the age of 5, did not actually love Benjamin (Insert Last Name Here). I'm just saying that Alycia at the age of 17, realized that love is ever-growing, and that my love at the age of 5 does not nearly compare to the Love I feel for another, at the age of 17.

I'm sure at 100, I still will not have experienced the extent of love's power.
Remember, Love is dangerous, and Love WILL, most definitely, out-live us all.