By Avery, TIWP Student

Love. What does that even mean?

What does it mean to love somebody? How can one small word carry something so enormous? We use the same word for the love we have for our parents, our friends, our pets, our favorite songs, even our favorite foods. Maybe that is why love can begin to sound ordinary. Something so powerful has been reduced to four letters.

But to love is not ordinary.

To love is to sacrifice, to give something of yourself without expecting anything in return.

To love is to value someone, sometimes even before yourself.

To love is not to see someone as flawless. It is to see every flaw, every imperfection, every part they try to hide, and choosing to stay anyway.

To love is to accept that people are complicated. It is to understand that loving someone does not mean loving only the parts that are easy to love.

To love is to forgive, but also to know when change is required.

To love is to listen, even when words are difficult.

To love is to remember the little things: the way they fidget with their hands, the songs that make them smile, the story they have told a hundred times.

To love is to care.

And maybe that is what gives love its power. Love is not powerful simply because it is a beautiful feeling. It is powerful because of what that feeling can make us do.

We may only have one word for love, but we do not have only one kind of love. There is the love that makes us stay, the love that makes us let go, the love that makes us strong, and the love that makes us scared.

So perhaps love is not a weak word after all. Maybe we made it sound ordinary by using it for everything.

Because love is not simply a feeling; it is sacrifice, acceptance, patience, and courage. It is choosing to care for someone, even when caring is difficult.

And maybe that is what makes love so powerful: not the word itself, but everything we are willing to give it.