What is love? Perhaps, too many poets, philosophers, and writers have tried to answer this question.

Have they succeeded? Well, if they had, I wouldn’t be giving you this short speech about love today.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t presume to discard millennia-worth of thought and provide you with a
neat three-to five-word answer. It would be too audacious even for me. What I do want to achieve
with this 3-minutes long oration is the clarity. If my public speaking about love provides greater clarity
on how little we know about the subject, then my rusty speech writing skills are still worth something.

As a school student, I was captivated by romantic tragedies such as Anna Karenina and The
Hunchback of Notre Dame. These stories served as cautionary tales admonishing me about the
consequences of unrequited love and flaming passion. It was at that time that I swore never to fall
for the seductive romantic ideology – a belief that there is a soul mate who is meant for me.
Admittedly, the belief still had its allure (otherwise, I wouldn’t find Coldplay listenable). However, its
enduring intensity waned considerably. You might ask: “Why would I give such a reckless,
hardheaded oath?” And the answer is simple: I made a tradeoff. It was the tradeoff between
ascending briefly to the deep blue sky only to burn my wings and lasting lukewarm contentment with
my mate. I wanted to outsmart Cupid. Checkmate, Love! Instead of looking for a soul mate, I
decided to settle for “Let’s copulate, mate!” And boy, was I wrong…

But before I continue, let me ask: have you experienced an unyielding burning sensation in your
chest fueled by a whiff of a person’s perfume, a hint of their smile, or even a fleeting thought about
them? If so, then you already know what made me break my promise.

And so I believed that my fate was sealed. I carried on with my life without giving a second thought
to fancy-schmancy love. Rather than focusing on a close relationship, I was only interested in
superficial romantic experiences with little emotional attachment. Put simply, I did not care about
searching for my “lost half.” Until it found me.
It was an explosion. The explosion of preconceived notions, taboos, and, of course, hormones. To
my surprise, I wasn’t blown to smithereens by the 2000 ˚F blast. Instead, I became whole.

My relentless belief into the innately tragic nature of love vanished instantaneously. And so did
unimaginative, pragmatic man I once was. So, to answer my initial question, I still have no idea what
love is. But I know that the turbulent ambiance inevitably following its arrival can fuel one’s
transformation for the better. Love became the catalyst for change, and this change manifested itself
in the birth of tangible and intangible idiosyncrasies, emotions, and ideas that replaced my old,
coarse self. The one-dimensional mode of existence was broken.

So, please, don’t eschew the great unknowable and earth-shattering force referred to as Love. The
enduring, intense feeling cannot be sidestepped in favor of tepid, calculated relationship. Trust me, I
tried and failed miserably. Love is simply too powerful. And it doesn’t care about your professed
knowledge of it.

To hell with pragmatism, practicality, and fear. Love and be loved!