I believe we do not control who we love, only how we love. Love is not a feeling but a collection of feelings that compels us to act. In good times and in bad, we love.
But the question is not how; the question is often why. Why do you love me? Of all the people in the world, how did you find me and, in spite of all my imperfection, find yourself loving me? We tend to reduce those whys to lists in a desperate attempt to make sense of it, but few of the whys we produce make any sense.
I love you because it’s you and for no other reason.
It’s not because you are brilliant, even though you are. Lots of people are brilliant and there is nothing for you to know that I could not know. I love your mind and its brilliance. I love the things that you know and how you think about the world because it’s you.
It’s not because you are beautiful, even though you are. Lots of people are attractive. I love your beauty because it tells the story of you, because the elements you control are an expression of who you are.
It’s not because of your heart, even though you are kind. Love is a verb that requires no reciprocation, only respect. It’s not because of how you make me feel but because of how you treat others that makes me love you.
The why is simply because you are you and no one else could ever be. The why is having the good fortune in a vast universe, among so many people, and across so many generations to have become aware of you and wanting that in my life for as long as possible.
Our time in this world is short and love is a respite against that. Eventually we will part, and I will no longer know all of the wonderful things that are you. Today is not that day and I still have the good fortune to know and to love you. I could choose no other thing except how to best honour that love.
Celtic Riverside 