What is love - seeing each other in our flawed humanness

What is love?

I have made mistakes.
I have been intentionally cruel.
I have made people feel small.
I have left people out.
I have slept with people I was ashamed of sleeping with.
I have talked behind people's backs.
I have let people down.
I have said I was interested when I wasn't.

I have made being liked more important than doing a good job.
I have been vain.
I forgotten to call. To pay money back. To return things I borrowed.
I have not prioritized things I should've.
I have bluffed my way through things I should've prepared for.
I have made being right more important than understanding.
I have been rejected.
I have been unlovable.

I have used alcohol as a method of dealing with trauma and pain.
I have used male attention as a way of dealing with trauma and pain.
I have lied to people because I was afraid of getting in trouble.
I have marginalised others through using language they didn't have access to.
I have raised my voice to drown someone out.
I have denied myself nutrients and pleasure in the name of being thin.

I have judged people for looking a certain way.
I have set my teeth and refused to back down or apologise.
I have manipulated people.
I have been materialistic.
I have been a hypocrite.
I have assumed people to be stupid.
I have forgotten to be kind.
I have broken people's hearts and never looked back.
I have been selfish.
I have been focused on my needs and forgotten my ecosystem.
I have self sabotaged.
I have needed to be the centre of attention.

I have needed others to feel stupid around me.
I have hated myself and assumed others hated me too.
I have stolen.
I have cheated in a relationship.
I have kept secrets.
I have not kept secrets.
I have shared information that wasn't mine to share.

I have been egoic and boastful.
I have taken illegal drugs.
I have done a walk of shame.
I have had an epidural because I couldn't handle the pain of childbirth
I have privilege and feel guilty about it.
I have not spoken up because of fear.
I have felt like an imposter.
I have had self harm ideation.
I have been depressed.
I have not wanted to live with myself anymore.

I have struggled with addiction.
I have struggled with grief and
I have struggled with detachment.
I have wondered if I am a sociopath.

And I know you have too. Some of these, maybe not all. Maybe other things you think are worse. I see you. In your humanness and vulnerability. We are all flawed and imperfect. Our pasts are littered with things we regret, of shame and guilt. We hide these things in an attempt to present a version of ourselves we think others will find palatable.
We assume no-one else would ever have done any of the horrible things we've done.
And we judge others so harshly for their misdemeanors too. But there they are. In all their humanness. Caught in a web of traumas and the masks they wear to be who they think they need to be.
I see you. In all your glory and terror and flawed beauty.
None of these things is who I am. None of these things is who you are. You are a mixed tapestry of so many patterns and pains and so much rich, kind joyful beauty.
I love you anyway. I love you because of it.