As I get older things that used to seem like mysteries now seem simple. How many times has someone said they love you when you think hmm I don’t think that’s really love. How long did it take you to figure it out? At this point I know what love is. If you can be yourself with another person then you can be sure that’s love. If you can snuggle up with them and relax, either physically or figuratively, and again, just be yourself, that’s love, for sure. But if you have to be a certain way, pretend to be someone you’re not, to stay in good stead with the other person, then that isn’t love. It’s just that simple. If you find yourself blurting out “I love you” without any thought, maybe even surprised yourself, that’s love. But love is not a status, not a state of being. It’s an act. You could be “in love” one moment and the next, not. That doesn’t mean in the next moment after that you won’t share love again. It’s just that feelings are always in motion. Love is a feeling of freedom to be yourself, or in another way — to just be. Love is the essence of being you. Nothing elusive about it. You are made of it. #