"He Whom Love Touches Not..."

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One of the most deep-seated and basic needs of any human being is to love and be loved. Love can be described as the expansion of the heart towards another human being. Whether it comes in the form of passion, intimacy or commitment, love is a force of nature and one that most people inherently long for.

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As a youngster, the first flutterings of love may strike in the schoolyard, that electric buzz of excitement as you spot the object of your daydreams across the hall. From those early innocent beginnings, right up to the end of life, love grows and constantly evolves. It ebbs and flows, causing immense joy, peace, fear, lust, longing, comfort, sadness and pain. It can come in many forms, platonic, familial, passionate, playful, all of which may intertwine at some point or another.

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Love is inherently free, it cannot be bought, sold or traded. It is impossible to make someone love us, and neither is it possible to prevent someone loving us. It can not be imprisoned or legislated and has no territory or borders.

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Try as we may, we cannot force, demand or remove love any more than we can control the tides, the stars or the seasons. Love is bigger than us. We can initiate it, but we cannot decide how, when or where it will express itself.  We can choose to surrender to love or not, but ultimately, it strikes unpredictably and irrefutably. It can happen when least expected and with whom you least expect.

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Without love, we may live, but do we truly live?

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To me, the words of Plato sum up the importance of love within life and my intentions on this project perfectly and so I have entitled my work:

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“He whom love touches not walks in darkness.”