Words Often Used and Abused: Love

"I love that movie!"

"I love this nail polish!"

"I love your shoes!"

"I love sleeping."

"I love potato chips."

"I love you."

Something isn't right here. If someone said, "I love potato chips." and then turned around and said, "I love you.", how would you feel?

Am I suggesting that feelings for a person can be equal to feelings for food? Not exactly; but I think it's safe to say that's it's getting pretty difficult to tell the difference between love and like.

"They say HATE is a strong word, but they throw around LOVE like it's nothing."

Side note: Who are they? I've always wondered...

I agree with this quote. Love is supposed to be an intense feeling of deep affection. Are people really having intense feelings of deep affection all the time for a bunch of different things? Doubt it. So why is love being said more often than not?

Love is not "like".

Love is not "fond of".

Love is not "admiration".

Love is not "infatuation".

Love is love.

Side note: Ever had those times when you write a word so much, it starts to look weird? Almost as if you spelled it wrong? I'm having one of those moments...

Love has been confused with things like "like" and "infatuation", and quite frankly, it's unfortunate.

You could listen to a song ONCE and say "I love this song!" when you only like the song.

You could be dating someone for three days and say "I love you." when, in fact, you're only infatuated with him or her. Yes, infatuation is an intense passion, but it's usually short-lived.

I mean, you're getting my point, right?

Before I wrap this up, let me make one thing clear: When I point a finger, three more are pointing back at me. That's why I usually point like this...

Haha! I'm kidding!

But anyway, I, too, am guilty of abusing this precious word. I supposedly love shopping, when I'm really just unhealthily addicted to it. I supposedly love blogging, when, in fact, I simply enjoy doing it. I could say I love an outfit, when I really just like the way it looks. I could say I love a city, when I really just prefer that city over where I currently reside. I say things like I love the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, when I really just admire the company. I REALLY admire the company. :)

You understand, right?

Just like the word "friend" has been dumbed down, "love" has been dumbed down. The sad thing is, most people know that a lot of the "love" out there nowadays isn't that serious; and it could get to the point where if someone has REAL love for someone else or something else, it won't be taken as seriously.

Is it too late to salvage what's left of the word?

I try to use the appropriate terms for my feelings towards something or someone, but I slip up more often than not.

That's all I'm gonna say on the matter for now. I hope you all got something from this post.

Do you have any thoughts about love? Let me know!

Take care.

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Words Often Used and Abused: Friend

If you really wanted to, you could take this post as a brief follow-up to Nia's Reality of Friendship.

"Today, the word 'friend' gets tossed around way too often. Society now has made the idea or concept of friendship not as big of a deal." -Nia Langley

Yeah. I said that in the 'Nia's Reality of Friendship' post, and I still think it's true. I mean, I cannot tell you how many times I've heard the word friend...being abused! At this point, someone you haven't even met...someone you've never talked to...someone you saw yesterday can now be called your friend. The crazy part is, most people don't think that's crazy!

Except for me.

I just do not understand why people are so quick to bestow such a noble title on someone else.

There has been many a time where I've met someone and two days didn't go by before he or she called me "friend" or "best friend"...That's moving too fast! What happened to the 'Getting to know you' part?! Seriously.

Oh, by the way, Facebook clearly doesn't help with this issue either. You don't see something that says "acquaintances", "people I network with", or anything of the sort. It's just 'Friends'. WRONG!

People don't even bloody know each other anymore. These "friends" can't even hold a conversation with each other, yet they insist on naming the relationship a friendship.

If you know me, you know my circle of friends is rather tight right now. You also know that I am very slow to call someone 'friend'. I mean EXTREMELY slow...practically plodding, if you will. But, as I've said before, I'm not anti-friendship. I simply think people take the whole idea of friendship too lightly. I want REAL friends! Let's build some trust! Let's build a bond! Let's build the bloody friendship instead of holding hands, jumping in, and hoping everything works out.

I think that's sick. The term is so watered down now. It means nothing.

That's all I really have to say. This was kind of all over the place. Sorry, but I hope this post was somewhat insightful nonetheless.

What do you think about the word friend? Is it abused, or am I overreacting?

Photo citation: http://www.daily-quotes.net/life-quotes/friend-quotes

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