What Is Love?

We tend to overcomplicate things.  The curse of our complex brains has resulted in years of analysis, creation, destruction, and boomboxes held over heads all for this tricky concept known as love.

We've said all there is to be said about it.  Yet we can't stop talking about it.  Perhaps it's because, whether we're happy, sad, in it or out of it, we love to talk about love.

Again?

Of all the philosophies out there on love, Ernie and Bert seem to have gotten it correct.  If you ask Ernie what love is, he'll tell you that it's being able to tolerate the negative qualities in another individual.

Love and all its aspects can be the most frustrating concept in the world.  Maybe you're in love and you don't know how to say it or you don't know how to find a balance or you can't meet the needs of your significant other.  Or maybe you're not in love and you want to be or you want to avoid it entirely.  It's strange that the frustration that develops out of this biological concept doesn't surface among our other biological needs.

"I've never been hungry.  I just haven't found the right sandwich yet."

"I could spend an eternity drinking this glass of water!"

"Sleep is just a scam concocted to sell greeting cards."

When it comes time to teach children about love, Bert opts for a different route.  Unlike Ernie, who revels in the bond between him and his friend, Bert bluntly states the obvious, with his song, "That's Love."

Does love deserve all the attention that it receives?  Who's to say?  It is what it is.  Stop worrying about it and enjoy it.  Love what and who you want to love.  If someone loves you, let them love you.  If two people are in love, let them be in love.  Love is nice.  When did it become so complicated?

As we get older, we want to believe that there is a deeper meaning behind everything.  Simplicity is for children.  Complexity for adults.  Just compare Sesame Street's approach to love with that of The Muppet Show.

Is this version better or worse?  Do they even need to be compared at all?

Pictured:  Love.

No one is going to answer this question in a satisfactory matter.  Love is the one element of life that everyone perceives as being unique to themselves and we like it that way.  We can look up jealousy, anger, fear and any other emotion in the dictionary and come to a general consensus on the definition.

But not love.  Never love.  And that's why, year after year, we celebrate it and let it take over our lives.  It's all we can do.

Accept that this is never going away.