Once upon a time, we’ve all come across fairy tales. Having grown up with them, I’ve noticed a similarity within all these nostalgic and whimsical stories — they always revolved around a prince saving a damsel in distress. Then they would fall in love, and the three famous “Happily Ever After” words would appear. These timeless stories made me believe in love in a hopeless romantic way. As I grew up with them, they made me realize love was important to me.
Not only do I believe in love, but I believe that love has so many aspects to it. Love is universal— any person could fall in love, no matter who they are. Love could also be between different people, platonically or romantically. A mother and her newborn baby, a pet and its owner, childhood friends, two lovers in a relationship. Real love is when someone loves you despite your flaws, your paranoias, and your reputation, and when they love you for who you are.
My helper is like my second mother. She started taking care of me when I was born, which was 13 years ago. She treats me like her own daughter, despite having her own family back in her hometown. I knew it took a lot of courage for her to come to a foreign country and to leave her family behind for long periods of time. Growing up, she bathed me and fed me, she dressed me and took me to school every day. She was there when I needed a shoulder to cry on and she has seen me at my worst times. I cannot comprehend how much I love her.
While love could be a strong bond and connection between two people, it can also just be singular. Self-love is often overlooked and underestimated by a lot of us. Out of all the people in the world, you know yourself best, and sometimes we are so blinded by our insecurities and jealousy for others that we forget to appreciate and to love ourselves. Self-love is embracing all our flaws and drawing stars around our scars. Self-love is appreciating ourselves and being proud of how far we’ve come.
Furthermore, I believe that love is equality. In modern times like these, I am heartbroken to see that some people still aren’t accepted for who they love. For them to be discriminated in places that they should feel safe, such as homes and schools, is disgusting and cruel. As an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, it is disheartening to know that kids are still being bullied for liking the same sex at school or that queer couples could be denied service at restaurants because of their sexuality. It is sickening to see that people still need to hide their sexualities because they are afraid that it could affect their career.
Love has helped me appreciate the simpler moments in life and admire the little things people have done for me out of love. It has helped me look at the brighter side of life. For example, despite our sibling fights, I realized I loved my brother, and I would die for him in secret. Despite some of our disagreements, I realized everything my parents have done for me were out of their concern and love for me, even if it was tough. I also learnt to enjoy the small pleasures of life, like how I love bubble tea and Taylor Swift. Love has made me happier. Self-love helped me embrace my insecurities and not to hide them. It helped me recognize my strengths and talents, and to be proud of myself for things I have achieved through them. Furthermore, love has made me empathize with people and to treat them genuinely, because we never know what inner battles they may be facing.
Love is a universal treasury of passion, genuineness, chaos, sacrifice, anger, heartache, sadness and most of all, happiness. Love is timeless and for our own selves too. Love is equality— everyone, no matter who they want to love, deserves their own fairy tale like happily ever after. This I believe.
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