This past week we have seen a day dedicated to the idea of LOVE. If there is anything I have learned through the years, it is that each of us has a different definition of this four letter word, and most of that is far removed from the commercial definition of giving flowers, chocolate and canned card sentiments. Once when I left a small box of heart-shaped candy with a note at my teenage daughter’s place at the kitchen table, she left this note in return, “Happy day of capitalist sales greed and fake romantic declarations. (Tomorrow is better, happy 50% off chocolate day.)” Obviously she has inherited my sense of humor, yet I was forced to consider the truth in her words, so different from the loving message I had offered.
I have been blessed to be in relationships that have taught me the meaning of unconditional love. Some the hard way, because they were one sided. I have also experienced relationships that have ended because my partners were uncomfortable with the abundance of joy and love I have to offer. I’m definitely the warm and fuzzy affectionate type. Those partings have been the hardest for me to accept. And frustrating to me is that our current culture has changed the way we interact in terms of love. What once was a simple act of getting to know each other (courting) has become a complicated and often online “system” of meet someone, run the description of him/her/they past our friends and analyze the relationship rather than committing to it. Over-analysis often kills the best of partnerships before they have a chance to thrive. We don’t just enjoy each other anymore.
If we are able to maintain close one-on-one communication with someone we meet as a friend and carefully nurture and sustain that, a beautiful and lasting relationship may blossom. I don’t honestly know or understand the ever-changing letters that make up the LGBQ, etc. community, but I respect all of us who want to be loved in our own defined ways. Putting a label on how we define love and hitting the streets to broadcast that does nothing for a relationship. Know and be comfortable with yourself and seek out a likeminded person, and you have the power to find the love you are looking for. Or find happiness and love in the single life.
On Valentine’s Day, I did not feel slighted because I was not the recipient of chocolates, roses or cards, although I admit I felt a twinge of longing for a partner. Nature as always filled that void when she showed me this comical turkey family traveling through my yard together (pictured here). I imagine that they somehow love each other in the form of really protecting each other. I like that as a common goal for humanity, even if we have individual interpretations as to how we define the concept of that four letter word.
Sending love to you all every day, whatever that means to you.
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