WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE?

With the eternal countdown to the hot, muggy summer, it seems as though once again we have stumbled upon the month of February. Every month on the calendar seems to bring something special with it…a new year, an exciting holiday, or a break from busy life. February brings with it the ideal of love. Love. The word drips off your tongue like honey that’s slightly too sweet it almost becomes bitter. Now, for a select group, Valentines Day this year will be spent with a significant other… roses, and dinner reservations, and gifts. It’s a special time to tell someone that you love them. However, for the other majority of the population, it’s instead spent taking the time to emphasize to themselves how single they are. In my opinion, both groups are perfectly valid. It may not be realistic for everyone to be happy when it seems like those around them are in love, and they have nothing to celebrate. But, there comes a point where, after enough days of brooding, it becomes necessary to look at what we call “love” in a different light. What do you “love”?

Maybe that question seems obvious and cretinous. Yet, more often than not, we tend to think of love in a very narrow margin. Sure, everyone loves their family, their friends, their pets, but nothing can compare to feeling you get from being “asked out”, or holding someone’s hand. It’s that feeling, that makes your heart beat out of your chest, and brings butterflies to your stomach, thinking now… you’re in love.

The thing is, that “love” means various things to different people and, different things to one person. It comes from recognizing the way someone or something makes you feel. We often lose that feeling the moment we stop giving the thing we “love” significance. When you stop noticing how your friends give you compliments, or how your grandmother lights up when you give her a hug, or how your dad brings you back gifts from his business trips, thats when “love” no longer seems fresh or exciting. And, more so, it’s why teens constantly seem to be seeking out someone to “love”. Because they want something, or rather someone, to remind them they are alive.

With the media constantly down our throats nowadays, portraying what love is, it is generally overly glorified. If you don’t have some epic love story, you can never be “in love”. But, what we really need to do, is take our focus away from the “all or nothing” thinking that is detrimental to almost anything, and pull our perspective to the bigger picture. You are already in love. Everyone, yes everyone, has something they love. I am in love with people, places, pets…but also words, ideas, art, music, stories, routine. I guess what I’m saying, is find what makes your heart beat this February fourteenth, whether it be a specific person or a general idea, and, be grateful for it. Tell the people who impact your life that you “love” them. It may not be in the same way you would love a boyfriend/girlfriend, but tell them you appreciate them and that they make your life better. Overall, realize that you are loved, and when others leave their hearts’ on your sleeve, pass it on.

“All you need is love” -The Beatles

Happy Living ❤

Featured image by @chaurasia on Unsplash.com