All you need is what?
Keep it real.
Welcome back to our weekly Drop in the Ocean post where we feature the amazing content that was created for the show.
The topic for the week was Love and in the spirit of that, we will keep this short and sweet, fleeting like a crush.
Joking aside, love is a difficult topic as it requires a bit of looking at yourself and those close to you. We each have our own experiences with love, some of us are wildly different in the ways we show affection.
Whether it is puppy love, years of dedication, or even an act of kindness, love does find its way into each and every one of our lives.
Introduction out the way... it's time for us to dive right in.
The votes have been rolling in from the attendees of the show and we have the posts ready to share with you all.
The top two voted writers will 'level up'. When a member has levelled up, they will receive a daily upvote from the BuddyUP account at 50%. The member keeps their level for 2 weeks unless they level up again on DITO within those 2 weeks. Every time you level up, you will receive an additional 10% on your daily vote, maxing out at level 5.
The writer with the most votes will be resteemed straight after this post. This is so we can all look back at the BuddyUP blog and see the winning posts from each week.
And the winners are...
Voting on the Drop in the Ocean posts have been opened to now allow every @BuddyUP member to cast their vote, instead of only those who attended prior. With all the votes in for this weeks Drop in the Ocean posts, we are happy to present the two who will level up this week.
If you are wondering how you can join the Drop in the Ocean show, you will find all the required information at the bottom of this post.
Now, let's find out who gains a level this week...
@Shadowspub
Being able to write a story that clearly conveys your message can be difficult, even more so when that message is one as complicated as showcasing what love can be.
Cover from @Shadowspub's Random Ramblings Series
Drawing inspiration from her personal life she brings this beautifully emotive story to life in our imaginations.
His thoughts drifted back to the first time he saw her and her sister walking toward him on a Toronto sidewalk.
Love is a topic for the ages and very few are able to clearly display how deep a connection is better than time can itself.
Read her second foray into fiction, with the depth of love brilliantly showcased in her post here
@Monchhichi23
Love is most notably indicated by a show of affection. This allows others to know that you love them. What if that affection is not shown, does it mean you don't love them?
I don't want flowers on Valentine's day and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate ... I'm not a fan.
@Monchihichi23 shares her take on such displays of affection as we so commonly see with movies or new couples. As she says at the beginning of her post, she is not your typical girl when it comes to love. She dives into a poem in the middle of the post which will explain this phrase in more detail.
She does admit to being a little "mushy", but don't expect this to be the norm. I think we can all relate to this to some extent, whether you are a hugger or not.
I have my moments
Sometimes I get mushy
Her post neatly explains the differences between people and how some may show their love by being over affectionate. Others are more withdrawn when it comes to such physical displays but not any less in love.
Be sure to read her post and gain some insight into why your partner might not be hugging you quite as much as you would like, you can find her post over here.
Current DITO standings
| NAME | LEVEL | TIME |
|---|---|---|
 | 3 (70%) | 2 weeks |
| 2 (60%) | 2 week |
| @Andysantics48 | 1(50%) | 1 weeks |
| @BluefinStudios | 1(50%) | 1 weeks |
Our runners up for this week
So whether you are a hugger or you simply grunt to show affection, one thing I have learnt is that if you truly accept someone you will learn to love their own personal ways of showing affection.
On a more worldly scope, love will always be something we need more of and hopefully, we all stay resilient in loving those close to us as well as strangers we meet.
You never know when your simple act of kindness or a smile coming from love is the one thing that changes it all for others.
So where are the rest of the posts?
Don't take life for granted and love your present, time is precious and it's better to love it than hate it.
@Lymepoet - ALL ABOUT LOVE
If you love it then brag about it. @Calumam shares some great photos of his pet that is clearly very loved.
@Calumam - My dogs better than yours.
Sharing a bit of personal history and how that has shaped her perspective on the topic of love.
@Andysantics48 - LOVE: A Drop In The Ocean Topic
Sometimes a person finds your love in caring for others, @Maquemali tells us about the love she has found as a mother.
@Maquemali - A MOTHER's LOVE
With great style shares his appreciation to those who support him on the platform, countered a bit with the question "Why hate?"
@Bluefinstudios - LOVE - Drop In The Ocean DITO
@TheHive brings us a great breakdown of love, starting with a few titles to phrases that you might know, a great bit of history with their personal touch of perspective to bring it all together.
@TheHive - The Hive. BuddyUp Word of the Week. Love.
A tale of overcoming the obstacles that might cause one to not let love in and others who seek love out.
@Dreemsteem - Love conquers all : A Story for Ulog 25b
Who does not love gifts? @Enginewitty shares just one of the many acts of love and generosity to be found when you make connections.
@Enginewitty - Tokens of Kindness
Again with the words.
@Penderis - Evol Love
How do you get involved?
Have you been reading through and wondering how you can get involved with our community/show? Below I've listed the steps to take, so you can jump into the action and share your perspective and views, with all of us here at BuddyUP.
Head over to our BuddyUP server. You can do this by following the SafeLink post here.
Think about the topic for next week, which is...
Perspective
Write a post about that topic and come by to the Drop in the Ocean show on Monday (20:00 UTC) to present it and join the conversation.
You are welcome to bring with a post on the topic from any other sources which you feel will contribute to the discussion. Bring a friend, bring a post and bring yourself.
If you are new and you don't have a membership to BuddyUP, you will receive free access if you present in Drop in the Ocean.
The final and the most important piece of information is... do not publish your post until Sunday or Monday. This is so we can give you all the best amount of exposure possible on your posts and also so you get paid out on the day of the show; so you can come back with an even bigger smile on your face!
You can come and speak to any of us in #the-lagoon (general chat channel in our server) or if you have any further questions, you can direct message 
We're looking forward to seeing you all next week for Drop in the Ocean!
We all grow together
All headers are credited in this post here & images are credited individually or are from the authors post.