Ah, love. A four-letter word to describe what may be the most complex thing that humans are fortunate enough to experience.
If you look up "love" on Google, the first definition you see is "an intense feeling of deep affection." Most of us would probably say that simple definiton of what love is doesn't even began to scratch the surface of all the things that we feel. Maddie found that out firsthand by getting to talk to some young women in their 20's about what love (or something like it) means to them.
Another possible definition of love is "a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone." I can think of quite a few who would debate that a deep sexual attachment =/= love... however, most would agree that sex and love go hand in hand. And in the wake of the #MeToo movement, many people are finding that we might not be as clear on what healthy sex and consent should look like. This is something that Devin explores in her piece.
And maybe you rolled your eyes at the title of this letter from the editor because you're not that interested in loving others romantically, or are tired of this world constantly telling you that you should be striving towards love. But there is one person you should be focusing on giving love to: yourself. Laura discusses this in her piece about self love.
Love is a tricky thing. Regardless of if you're a hopeless romantic or a cynic, if you fall in love on sight or you never have been and don't care if you ever will... it definitely affects your life in some way, and we at Iris encourage you to read these pieces and discuss them with your friends, much like the interesting conversation that current Graphics Intern Kirsten Hemrich and her friend had on their podcast.
Give love and stay loved, y'all.
