i believe in love because i feel it all the time and i feel it all the time because i believe in love. does that make sense? love is one of those things that finds you because you create it, i think. i mean love in general, not just romantic love, because romantic love is just one version of what love can be, in equal value to all the other kinds, and it is very possible to live a happy life without it. it is beautiful on account of love being beautiful but there are all sorts of ways to fill your life with “pure and real and crazy” love. romance is is in no way the end all be all of love, and the fact that its treated as such is propaganda.
sincerely, a romance writer

just kidding. but there’s a reason why I put so much emphasis on friendships (and other relationships) in my fics. “pure and real” love exists in all shapes and sizes, and in my experience it exists everywhere once you start looking for it. i started seeking out connection by showing people love in all kinds of ways, big and small, and now my life is crammed full of it.

that being said, individualism is a highly contagious disease, many are infected (especially those of us in the US) and battling it is a conscious effort. Feeling love and care for other people may be intuitive but Showing it is a practice that not everyone does, for whatever reason they may have. i’m fighting symptoms around those who keep themselves sick all the time but when i put in the effort i find other people who are doing the same. i think putting in the effort together is what makes love pure and real? and you can find that in a lot of circumstances.

but I also had to learn that Loving is not people-pleasing or letting people walk all over me or sacrificing myself until there is nothing left, that there are infinite ways to love and it doesn’t always look pretty, and that I could not love people the way I wanted if I did not take care of myself and my health first. i’m also just extremely lucky at this point in my life. there’s a lot to it. idk man i’m 23 and kind of stupid and talk a lot know a lot less than i think i do.

TLDR: it’s not science-fiction, i know that because i feel it in all kinds of ways, and i’m not special in any way. like literally everything in life, it’s effort and luck. in my opinion, it’s worth seeking it out until you find it, even if it feels unfair and impossible at times.

i’m SO fucking sorry for the essay. i think about this a lot. thanks for asking & for reading my things !!!