Desire and Love Are Closer Than You Think — Of Course They Are
Drive, energy, and desire are not so far apart. Sexual desire isn't evil — it's one of the strong energies given to humans. Maturity isn't becoming desireless; it's choosing the direction of your desire without shame.
I don't think drive, energy, and sexual desire stand very far apart.
Wanting to do something,
wanting to meet someone, wanting to live more fully.
A similar kind of force flows through all of it.
Sexual desire is one of them.
And desire and love are closer than you think —
no, of course they're close.
Being drawn to someone,
wanting to be near them, to touch them, to share your heart — these feelings are not entirely separate things.
Of course desire is not itself love,
and love doesn't necessarily require desire.
But as you come to like a person deeply,
there are times you want the distance between bodies to close along with the distance between hearts.
So what matters is not eliminating desire
but learning how to handle that force.
Suppress it by force and it bursts out in other forms;
follow wherever it leads and you end up dragged along by it.
What's needed, in the end, is a proper distance.
“Ah — so this desire is in me right now.”
Acknowledging that,
while knowing the desire is not the same thing as you.
You can release it through exercise,
pour yourself into work or creation,
or share love healthily with someone you cherish.
Sexual desire is not evil.
It is simply one of the strong energies given to human beings,
and at times an emotion that moves very close to love.
Perhaps maturing is not
becoming a person without desire,
but becoming someone who isn't ashamed of the desire within —
and who can choose its direction for themselves.