Lately, I have been thinking about the phrase, “I love you.” A phrase, I have only used, as an adult, when my heart, head,gut and even my soul are in alignment. Actually, that is not true. I have often said because it was said to me first. How often have you said it just because someone said it to you first?
Ahhh…Young Love.
I had my first boyfriend when I was 14. He told me he loved me. We would spend hours on the phone at night (this was before call waiting, when friends would make emergency breakthroughs). Up until a few years ago, the 4.5ft pink bunny he gave me for Easter was still at parents house. It was easy to say I love you then, to write long letters, notes in yearbooks and of course, parking at the nearby lake. When life is uncomplicated, emotions seem more fluid, weightless even and when it ends the density of it springboards.
Relationships, Like Finer Wines, Can Get More Complex with Age…
Or they turn and go bad. As we get older, the “L” word is reserved for when it really counts. We are much less promiscuous with the phrase. There may be a hope of love and commitment, even expectation, but in the meantime life is well-lived.
Good doesn’t have to be great. Satisfaction is relative. Security is often the mask for love. Its not a bad thing. It is life. The definition is flexible. It needs to be, because as we grow and age so do our desires and needs.
Making the Case for Love Being the Omnipotent Emotion
The golden rule, “love thy neighbor as thyself”; taking the character of love out of the romantic realm, placing it front and center of humanity. This concept that the foundation of life is love. It is our egos that are the armor, sometimes making it difficult to see challenging and vulnerable situations with more flexibility and creativity. Think Amor Fati. Pema Chodron. Let go of noise by taking an extra moment to find a new perspective, find where the sun shines. Love. A life long endeavor indeed!
