The highest form of love

Too focused on chasing the light for you, till I am left in the dark all alone
“If you love somebody, you gotta set them free.”
Most Indonesian is familiar with the previous sentence — a song from Pamungkas, a famous Indonesian singer.
We talk a lot about love, giving, and receiving it. But, we rarely talk about forms of love, as I realize there are many. So, the question is…
What should we do when we are tenderly and profoundly in love with someone?
Is it really to set them free, like Pamungkas Said? Or accepting them for who they are, as Leo Tolstoy put it? Or being fine even if they are not as perfect as you expect them to be, as mentioned by Jodi Picoult? Or as cliche as putting their happiness and needs above ours and even letting them go with their most desired choice as you care too much?
The aforementioned acts sound so passive, I am aware. So, let me give examples in a more active context:
Should we fight it in accordance with our maximum capacity but without expecting anything in return? Or fulfilling their most preferred ways of feeling affectioned? Such as giving them the attention they are longing for, or buying them their favorite shoes or polo shirt, or supporting them with beautifully crafted sentences?
What? What should we do when we are fond of someone? What is the highest form of love?
Frankly speaking, it took me days to come up with an answer. A very broad one, I must confess; everyone has their own way of expressing their love. Some show it all, but some do it in a more implicit manner. This is why one person is different from the other in how they scratch our hearts. Everyone has authentic characteristics. The characteristics that make them uniquely rare, result in their significant presence in our lives.
But, every version of your highest form of love will always include sacrifices and must be done without any expectation of receiving it back. It is because when you love someone, you focused on being your best for them than hoping for anything in return.
Nevertheless, to what extent we can show our sentiments is also be affected by the person we fall in love with. Some make every expression of love effortless. And that is when we know that they are exceptional, as pure love is supposed to be uncomplicated.
As I said, everyone is different, and I have been contemplating my version of expressing the highest form of love I could ever show to someone. Days have gone by, the clock is ticking, and the pages are flipping — reflecting on what I have done, even searching for references. Then, I realize that it is actually very close to me—the thing I always spare my time for every day; reading and writing poetry.
I could never emphasize enough how vulnerably written poetry has its own place in my heart. I have been collecting poetry books and finding some on the internet since junior high. One of my favorites is Gregson’s; Chasers of the Light.
I would love to say that you make me weak at the knees, but to be quite upfront and completely truthful, you make my body forget it has knees at all. — Tyler Knott Gregson.
From the title alone, I’m already in awe as I consider myself a person who is constantly fascinated to see the positive implications of a certain phenomenon — analyzing a situation and finding the moral values I could implement in the next adventure — chasing the light at the end of the tunnel. Being a utopist for the future keeps me going—the continuous self-affirmation that a rainbow will appear after the storm.
This is the reason why Gregson’s poetry compilations are significant to my life. It altered my outlook on life. It inflicted my soul with love, despair, and serenity all at once. He set the environment of the book to be chaotic, yet I can still sense tranquility between the phrases — heartbreaking yet heartwarming at the same time.
Sufficiently tremendous and influential is how I would like to portray Gregson’s poetries in Chasers of the Light. I treasured it deeply. But, surprisingly, I gave it to another person. The sole reason is that he outweighs the significance of the book. And that, my friend, if I contemplate thoroughly, my version of the highest form of love; giving the thing that I treasured the most, a priceless collection of my poetry books, with additional views on the world as I put many remarks on it.
Though now both the book and he are out of my reach, they still occupy my heart and mind; because, just like what I said from the beginning, I care too much about being the best than expecting anything in return.
I need him to know that he is appreciated and loved, and even the most favored poetry book I possess cannot defeat his presence in my life, though it plays a substantial role in shaping my perspectives on love and life. Because truthfully, he is the real epitome of my love and life.