Valentine's Day - What does Love mean to you?

Love is one of the only things in this world that does not ask for permission before it exists. It does not check your background, your appearance, your mistakes, your fears, or your past. It just shows up. And I think that is exactly why it should be celebrated loudly and shared freely, no matter our differences.

As a teenager, I see so many invisible lines drawn between people. Lines about popularity. Lines about race. Lines about religion, identity, interests, money, politics, the way someone dresses, or even the music they listen to. It feels like the world hands us categories before we even know who we are. But love does not recognize those lines the way we are taught to. Love crosses them without hesitation. It sits next to someone who feels alone at lunch. It defends someone who is being misunderstood. It forgives. It listens. It tries to understand instead of immediately judging.

Love is not just romance. It is friendship that feels like home. It is a parent staying up late to make sure you are safe. It is choosing kindness when it would be easier to be cruel. It is respecting someone’s identity even if you do not fully understand it. It is celebrating someone’s culture instead of fearing it. Love is the quiet decision to see another human being as worthy.

We live in a time where differences are often turned into weapons. Social media can magnify every disagreement. News headlines highlight division. Even schools sometimes feel divided into small social islands. But if love were treated as something powerful instead of something soft, maybe things would look different. Love is not weakness. It takes strength to care about someone who is not exactly like you. It takes courage to stand beside someone who the world might overlook. It takes maturity to say, “I may not share your experience, but I respect it.”

Celebrating love means making it visible. It means telling your friends you appreciate them. It means supporting people openly. It means refusing to laugh at jokes that tear others down. It means understanding that someone else’s joy does not take away from yours. When we celebrate love, we create space for people to breathe and exist fully as themselves.

Despite all our differences, we all want the same core things. We want to feel seen. We want to feel safe. We want to feel valued. Love is the bridge that connects those shared desires. It reminds us that under labels and disagreements, we are all just human beings trying to figure life out.

Maybe that is why love should never be hidden or rationed. It should not be limited to certain groups or reserved only for people who think exactly like us. It should be shown boldly, consistently, and without conditions. Because when love is shared freely, it does something extraordinary. It does not erase differences. It honors them. And in doing so, it makes the world feel a little less divided and a lot more alive.