What does it mean anyway, to love?
Is it a million red, velvet roses outside your apartment? Or a diamond ring? Is is twenty-five years of marriage; is it a bond only for the mature?
When are we allowed to begin to love?
After high school, after grad school or after we're married (in my dad's terms?) Does it have to happen after a certain point in our lives; is the point as obvious as clicking an ON switch?
Where are we able to love?
Only in our bedrooms, behind closed doors? Only in front of everyone, never alone? Only on February 14th?
Who are the people we can love?
Clean people? Nice people? Our parents and children and spouses? Celebrities? God?
Why can we love?
As a thank you for gifts? Obliged by family or friends? Everyone else is doing it?
How can we love?
Politely? Showing appreciation, with gifts? Talking about how much feelings we have to give away?
Suppose, the perspective of love was turned inside out and we began to learn what the truth behind Love is instead of these generic versions of who, what, when, where, why and how's.
What if it meant to wake up early in the morning to drive down the freeway to find your friend whose car has a flat? What if it were the smell of a warm plate of dinner that your roommate made for you because she/he knows what a long day you've had.
Must we not include the youth who are deeply and passionately in love, some more than our own parents. What if loving could happen whenever we wake up and live each day and go back to sleep that night.
And what if it meant to hold the hand of a stranger, or an angry student who just got into a fight. Being able to love outside of our comfort zones; be able to love in places we've never dreamed of.
Lets love the people who go out of their way to make our numbered days on this Earth better. Love the neighbor who voluntarily mows your lawn, since he's already doing his own; the girl who holds the door open for you even though you're nowhere near the entrance; and the stranger who smiles back at you.
Start to see and hear the reasons why you should love. See all the insignificant, small and practically unnoticeable things people do for YOU. Hear the words of affirmation and encouragement and accept them as true gifts...and give them back, with thank-yous and i-love-yous.
Answer this question, over the lovey-dovey, ooey-gooey Valentine's Day weekend.
What, when, where, who, why, and how do you love?
