love..love...love

Anne Morrow Lindbergh writes:

People talk about love as though it were something
you could give, like a armful of flowers.
and a lot of people give love like that-just dump
it down on top of you, a useless strong-scented burden.
I don't think it is anything you can give

Love is a force in you that enables you to give other things.
It is the motivating power. It enables you to give strength
and freedom and peace to another person. It is not a result;
it is a cause. It is a power like stream or electricity. It is valueless
unless you can give something else by means of it.

-Locked Rooms and Open Doors