02 - My first love

For a lot of people, some sort of sweet, amusing story would probably go here, but I don't have anything like that to tell, at least nothing true. From the time we're born, from the time we begin to interact with other human beings, we begin to learn what love is and what love isn't. Unfortunately, we're usually taught a lot of commonly-held bull about love, first, and it's by weeding out all of that that we come to understand the real thing. There's a place lower down the list where I'm to explain my definition of love, and so I won't go into depth, here.

However, here is one of the most important real things you learn: You must love yourself, if you'd ever hope love others.

So.

My first love is me.

I have loved myself all my life, despite all of those--be they family, assorted authority figures, strangers or my peers--who have tried to make it otherwise. (You're easier to control, easier to manipulate, if you don't love yourself, if you believe that you need the love of others to have worth, you see.) I have loved myself, sometimes peacefully, sometimes defiantly, but either way, I have loved and do love myself truly. Whether or not I have One True Love walking around on this earth, whether that even exists at all or it's just a delusion like so much else we're raised to believe, I'd say that's a good start.