"Why I Use or Overuse the Word “love”?"

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I preface many of my tweets with “love”. "I love...", "We love...", "Love..."As a writer, I understand that it’s an overuse of the word which lessens its meaning. However, I disagree with that rule. Why? Why would I disagree with the thinking of great minds? 

Well, first, I like to question and disagree with theories and ideas that don’t completely make sense to me. Not because I want to cause conflict or for the sake of disagreeing. I do this because questioning the greats allows me to further understand my world.

If I agreed with every rule of writing, I wouldn’t be writing for me. I would be writing to remain in the same bubble as all writers. As a lover of the written word (see, how quickly I use the word-ha!), I enjoy reading different voices and styles. If I kept to all the rules of writing, I wouldn’t be writing in my style. I agree that there are many rules that all writers should follow. 

Again, as previously mentioned in my first post, theory is the foundation, but we all have different ways of enjoying the ice cream cone. How boring life would be if we all had to eat the same flavor of ice cream. As much as I love (there I go, again) Ben and Jerry’s "Chunky Monkey", yesterday, I chose "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" because I needed a small break from my oh-so-lovely-banana-fudge-and-walnut-creamy-delight that makes me giggle and dance. By small, I mean yesterday’s market trip. As soon as the "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" container is empty, my shopping cart will be adorned with a lovely pint of… what else?!... Chuuunnnky Mon-key! I love that flavor and name!

Additionally, I use or “overuse” love, often, because when I love something or someone, I feel great passion for the person, thought, idea, object, etc., so why would I use a different word? Sure, I could use a synonym like: like, enjoy, penchant for, relish, passion, fondness, endearment, zest for, appetite for, soft spot for, etc., etc. You probably know more, too, and the list can go on and on and on. However, "love" conveys the strength of all those synonyms. Like John Lennon and The Beatles’ famously wrote and sang:

All you need is love

All you need is love

All you need is love, love

Love is all we need

Love, love, love

Love, love, love

Love, love, love

However, some of my favorite authors and great minds of the written word agree that oftentimes the simplest word has the most meaning. As a user or over user of a strong and powerful word, I couldn’t agree more as it relates to the word “love” when addressing family and friends. Of course, I use all the other synonyms. In fact, in my writings, I looove to use them. Ha! I make myself laugh. However, when speaking to a friend or family member, I use love a lot because I want to convey the message that I have a passion for life. 

By “loving” many people and things, I enjoy our world with greater zest and color. If I simply liked many things and only expressed "love" for a few in order to keep to the written rule of not overusing words, I wouldn’t be able to convey to my Twitter friends my passion for many people, places, activities, objects, etc.

Lastly and most important to me, I absolutely love many people, things, objects, experiences, etc. because the more I love about our world, the more I learn and grow. The more I grow, the happier I make myself and others I interact with in my personal life. Along with enriching my family and friends’ lives with my positive and loving energy, I indirectly have an impact, verbally and non-verbally, on the lives of others I encounter on the journey of life.

Feel free to disagree with me because we’re all entitled to enjoy or own flavor of ice cream while sitting side by side.