love

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.

I'm not the biggest Bob Dylan fan in the world but i do appreciate his song writing which has the ability to touch your soul. In my opinion this is the most beautiful love song ever written.
The word 'love' has a very broad spectrum though hasn't it? We love our family, friends, partners and pets but how many times do we say 'i love your hair' or 'i love sausage egg and chips' or 'i love that film' or in my case 'i love that Ducati 916'. We often use the word love for something we really like, however, i do love the Ducati 916 incase Mr Ducati is reading this.
The love you feel for your kids and family is different from the love you feel for a partner. In simple terms you would, without a second thought, die for your kids. You'd put yourself in mild peril for your family but, if your'e being honest, when it comes to your partner (if your'e lucky enough to have one) self preservation kicks in. I'm not saying you love them any less just that it's a different kind of love. I know there are people out there who become obsessed with their significant others and claim they would do anything for them but i'm not sure they would unless they were slightly unhinged. If my fella asked me to make him a bacon sandwich, sew a button on a shirt or give him a lift somewhere i would because i love him. If my fella asked me to slay a kitten with a turkey baster, throw chilli powder in my nan's eyes or burn next door's house down because they looked at him funny i wouldn't do it because it's mental and the recriminations to myself would be swift and uncompromising. Self preservation would most certainly kick in.
Falling in love is such a strong emotion that we often don't know how to deal with it and behave irrationally because we desperately want it to be reciprocated. We want the object of our desires to love us back so we show them the best possible version of ourselves and will often masquerade as their perfect partner. For some reason we don't realise it at the time but the other person will also be doing this. The upshot of that is that if and when you do enter into a relationship after a few months you notice any little flaws in each other and they will either irritate you or if you are actually in love you will accept them. It's a bit like false advertising. If people were actually 100% honest at the start about themselves nobody would start a relationship and the human race would become extinct. For example if i knew that my partner could snore loud enough to wake the kids in the next room and neighbours in the next house, or had a nutcase of an ex-wife, or didn't like crab sticks, or picked his toenails or did farts so rancid they actually wake me up choking and gasping for air i might have thought twice. I know the not liking crab sticks is a small thing but i love them-or is it really like? If he knew that i pluck hairs from my chin, didn't like aufwiedersen pet, had OCD or was very argumentative he'd probably have run a mile. My point is that despite these things we do love each other because all the good stuff far outweighs the shitty stuff. It took me a long time to find my true love and nobody else will ever come close. The best bit is, i know he feels the same. We feel lucky to have each other and we don't take our relationship for granted because we've both been on the other side, Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince or princess.
I'm dreading the day my two daughters enter into their first proper love relationship just incase they get their hearts broken. I think one of the worst expressions i've ever heard is 'puppy love'. It's such an unfair comment and a load of old bollocks. Love is love regardless of your age. The feelings are exactly the same whether your 9 or 99. If somebody were to break one of my daughter's hearts it would break mine too because i love them so much. Their pain is mine. It's only natural to feel huge empathy for your loved ones-especially your children. We can't stop heartbreak from happening and we have to let them live their lives so other than shipping them off to a nunnery I'll be there ready to cry or rejoice with them. I'll be their mum and their anchor ready with either a box of tissues and a tub of ice cream or a new hat. Obviously if some boy does break my little girl's heart i will slay them with a turkey baster, throw chilli powder in their eyes and burn their house down.
The worst kind of love is the unrequited kind. Most of us have been there and it's pretty much soul destroying. You can't make someone else love you but that doesn't stop us trying. Sometimes a knock back can harden your heart and make you cynical especially if you've been in a relationship where you've given everything and the other person has thrown it back in your face. It makes you distrusting, guarded and not as willing to give your heart to another. Some people will go straight from one relationship to another because they don't want to be on their own. I'm a bit of a deep thinker and it took me 12 years of mending and processing to allow somebody else into my life. Everybody is different and that helps the world go around-well that, gravitational pull and magnetic poles.
Valentines day definitely cashes in on love and has done since the 14th century thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer. It's celebrated world wide as a day when couples express their love by paying over inflated prices for flowers, chocolates, cards or a meal out. Saint Valentine was executed for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. How romantic. These days people just nip off to Gretna Green or Las Vegas. It's worth noting that Chaucer who wrote a poem about the 14th of February being a day where you declare your love for your true valentine actually married for convenience a woman (Phillipa Roet) whose social standing served to elevate his own. She also had a few quid and supported him. When she died he had to get a job, so not a case of practice what you preach or quite the romantic he was perceived to be. He was actually a bit of bell end.
Valentines' day for me doesn't mean huge bouquets of flowers or grand gestures. A home made card and a 'i love you' will do me nicely. That gold digger Chaucer has got nothing on Bob Dylan.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true,
There's nothing that I wouldn't do,
Go to the ends of this earth for you,
To make you feel my love.