To Love; Let Go

As a child, I loved birds; and I still do.

My office window stands as proof of this affection. Birds of different kinds visit throughout the year, perching on the sill as I feed them. And when one mistakenly flies inside, I gently guide it back out.

During our adolescence, my siblings and I were fascinated by these beautiful creatures of feather and song. We especially adored the small, colorful ones, though they were always the hardest to catch.

We would watch their nests with curiosity, and sometimes, in our childish ignorance, we would take their young while the mother bird was away.

Sadly, they never survived more than a day or two. I suppose the cold or fear was too much for them.

When we managed to catch older birds, they refused to eat or drink until they died.

They seemed to choose starvation over captivity. Freedom over comfort.

With time, we began to understand.

True love does not seek to own or control. It allows freedom — the freedom to stay or to leave. The freedom to choose.

To truly love is to let go.

Love liberates. It does not cage or bind without cause.

When you truly love, you think of what's best for the other, not yourself.

Love is not selfish; it is selfless and giving.

That emotion that tries to claim and keep.

That fears to lose.

That imprisons what it claims to care for...

That is not love.

That's possession.

Or perhaps, fear dressed as passion.

It is a poor imitation of the real.

Real love sets free.