Valentine's Day rides in on storm gales this year. Are you a love it or hate it kinda person? I'm a love it person myself--any excuse for good cheer and celebration! I love going into groceries and Walmarts and convenience stores and seeing flocks of people choosing bouquets and smiling over cards. I see a young boy and his dad, faces furrowed in concentration, selecting just the perfect flowers for mom. I glow, imagining what that 7 year old is learning about love and how he will bear that standard into adulthood. Who will he touch with his love?
Of course, that begs the question "why just one day a year?" Do people need an annual reminder not to take love for granted, a jump start to reignite the momentum for the next 365 days?
Perhaps confusion lies in the fact that we use but one word in innumerable scenarios. "I love you!" while embracing Great Aunt Harriett is completely different than your truelove's whispered "I love you!" or your delighted "I love you!" when your best friend brings you a Dairy Queen blizzard as a surprise. I love my dog (warm and fuzzy love, admiration (he's very handsome I must say!) deep gratitude at his loyalty). I love the raw beauty of the world (overwhelming, awe-inspiring, swept off my feet). I love classical music (shining light on hidden places, bringing my insides to the outside, a tuning fork to waken some slumbering corner of my soul) and God rock (the love, the power, the rraw elation of worshiping with abandon) and singing with my brother's or my cousin's guitar playing (connection, creation, delight) and Wierd Al Yankovik and scads of other musical genres. And that's the tiniest tip of a titanic iceberg.
I'd say maybe we need words for each incarnation of love, like the Inuit have a different word for subtle distinctions of snow. But it turns out that notion is a myth. Inuit has about the same number as English. I guess if they can experience and appreciate their infinite encounters with snow on a level transcending words, we can do the same with love!
Even if you hate it, ESPECIALLY if you hate it, Happy Valentines!
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