all the many ways...

I've always considered Valentine's Day to be a Hallmark Holiday. Even when I was "in love", I always thought it a silly holiday. I always had a very icky taste in my mouth on V-Day...and I'm not even sure why. But that's not important. Because all that has changed. While I still think it's kind of silly that we only honor Love on this day, I understand (a little bit, anyway) why we do it. What I'm not real clear on is...all the other days. How come we only "celebrate" Love on this day, and not all the rest? AND...how about all the people who think they don't have Love? The ones who are divorced or "single" or widowed...what about them? I think about those people when this day rolls around, and I do my best to send 'em BigLove too. Cuz...I think we're overlooking something pretty big.

I'm thinkin' that one of the reasons we have it all jumbled up is because, in the English language anyway, there's only one word for love...and that is 'love'. (in other languages, there are many words for love, depending on the "kind" of love you're talking about.) For example:

I love these jeans.
I love chocolate.
I love to hike through the woods.
I love Keith Urban's music.

Is this the same kind of Love as the kind we may feel for a spouse? Or a child? Or a parent? How can we use the word 'love' in this way, and not have it diminish what Love is? More importantly, if we don't have a 'significant other' (I really dislike that phrase, but I'm trying to make a point here...) does it mean we are less loved? Can we hold ourselves in Love well enough to stand on our own? If we don't have a partner, does it mean we're not worthy of Love? Or does it mean that we have more...

...more to give
...more to receive
...more to expand?

What if we have chosen a solitary path for our own reasons? Does this make us unlovable? Or unworthy? Or vacant? Is Hollywood's version of Love really what Love is? (sheesh! can you imagine????)

I think not. I think that there are so many ways to be Love. I also think that Love is something we are, not something we have. Love is all around us. Love is a puppy sleeping in your lap. Love is sparkling dew on a rose in the morning sun. Love is a snowflake that lands on your nose. It's butterflies and ladybugs and hummingbirds and warm clothes and food in your belly and dancing in the rain and your smile that lights up a room. Love is so many things, yet, for some reason, we want to put it in a teeny little box...to keep it safe. If we think we don't have any, we feel smaller in our skin. I say "think" because it is never ever true....that we don't have any, that is. We ALL have Love...all around us, every moment of every day. To honor that Love is to live fully. Love has many faces...all of them a refection of GodLove.

Love is not so small that it need be labeled at all. If we will remember...and pay attention...and open up to it...Love will wrap itself around us. ALWAYS. So maybe this day is more about remembering...not about red roses and candy and diamonds. You don't need to have someone else in your bed to know you are loved. Just look around. It's everywhere. The most important Love? The Love that you hold in your own heart...for your SELF. This is where Love begins. And I know, deep in my core, that once we remember this...and honor it...all the rest comes to us.

Love is not hard to find.
Love is not painful.
Love is not elusive.

Love
Simply
IS.