A Dissertation on Human Folly by Hermione Granger
Disclaimer: I do own Harry Potter. Really. No joke….Too bad reverse psychology doesn't work. Damn. Ok, ok, you caught me. I don't own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: Hope y'all are liking this new side to Hermione. Enjoy the new installment! By the way, calling love a wonderful/devastating feeling is how I describe it since I am dealing with it right now. Just a tidbit about me.
Section 2a: Love, That Wonderful/Devastating Feeling
Love.
That stupid word.
We use it too much. "I love ice cream. I love her skirt." SHUT UP! No, you don't!
It really pisses me off that people use the word "love" with just about anything. All the different types and feelings of love are lumped in one four-lettered word that has so many definitions and connotations for different people. It's too vague for a feeling as powerful as it is.
People don't know what real love is anymore. Notice I didn't say "true love." Another cliché I absolutely hate. Fairy tales don't exist, people. They don't happen in reality. You can't have true love for the boyfriend you have been going out with for two months. I hate it when couples say "I love you" to each other when they just got together, like, a day ago. No, you don't! You can't love someone if you don't know them, and when I say that, I mean really know them. Not birthday date and favorite ice cream. You know their emotions, their views on the world, past experiences, etc. Only when you have the communication and trust for this type of knowledge, only then can you be capable of loving the person. If not, you only like them or care for them – you cannot deeply and completely love them.
For me, well, I have three criteria to meet before I know that I really love someone. I know this might sound stiff and if you don't like that I am putting "restrictions" so to speak on love, fine. Like I said before, I don't care what you think of me. Going on, my three criteria are:
1. They make you happy. Not a fleeting happy and of course, they will make you mad and sad on occasion. However, they give you a deep, calm happiness, a safeness. You get excited just to see them or talk over the phone. They make you smile no matter what goofy thing they're doing. Thinking about them makes you get a silly smile on your face. Your eyes light up when their name is mentioned.
2. You trust them with your life. You can tell them anything, no matter how embarrassing, personal, frightening, uncomfortable, or traumatic it is. And they can do the same with you. There is nothing that you keep from them. If your life was on the line, you would be completely comfortable putting your wellbeing into their hands.
3. You would die for them. And yes, I mean this literally. If a speeding bullet was aimed at them, you would step in the way and take the hit. You place their own life above yours.
Now, you may be saying that this is a pretty tall order for loving someone. Wake up and smell the coffee, sunshine – love itself is a tall order. Love is not something trivial, something you can just throw around, something you can give and take back instantly. When you love someone, that feeling – that wonderful/devastating feeling – is so powerful that it continues to surprise you. The sheer magnitude of it, the weight of it, the realization that "I give my all to this person" can be oppressing. And you don't give a damn if it is.
Another thing about love which makes it so wonderful/devastating is that you make yourself vulnerable in the worst way possible. Many people have trust issues these days and frankly, I am not surprised about it. Many people don't open themselves up for fear they will get hurt if they do – it is a natural thing, to protect oneself from stress and injury, be it physical or mental or emotional. When you love someone, you open yourself up to them. You willingly make yourself vulnerable to them. They become a weakness to you. They know how to kill you. If they do hurt you, it will contain so much more pain and anguish. This aspect of love is like going up to an enemy soldier armed with a machine gun, taking off your armor, standing there with your arms spread wide, and vocally inviting him to shoot you. Perhaps a morbid image, but it fits nonetheless. That person which you love, that you have given your all to, becomes that enemy soldier, armed with exactly all the right things to say and to do to rip your heart out and stomp on it. However, you trust that they will not use what you have given them against you. That is the ultimate trust.
Love.
Such a wonderful/devastating feeling.
Author's PS- Reviews welcome!
