My Word Of The Year, Love

I LOVE YOU.  I mean it.  I’ve been quietly mentioning all month how my word of the year is: LOVE.  I’m not sure if having a word of the year is a thing or not, but it felt right.  2019, living with the word LOVE at the front of my mind? Lets see what happens.

It all started with the movies.  I watched Instant Family, A Star is Born, and Bohemian Rhapsody pretty much back to back.  I felt connected to each of them.  And the feeling I had leaving the theater each time was… I wish those characters could have felt LOVED.

With social media addressing mental health more than ever before & more unfortunate mornings waking up to news of suicides – I’ve been feeling the same way I did each time I left the movies:  I wish those people could have felt more loved.  Literally speaking, all they need is love.  And the thought of people lacking that emotion in their lives overwhelms me.  How can this be happening?

Love, the emotion itself, can be used as freaking medication.  Love is POWERFUL & important.  Love can be shared between text messages, a hug, a word, an open ear or simply a presence.  Love should be showing up everywhere.

Most of my life I thought love was something you have in a relationship with your parents or significant other.  And that’s it.

I’m realizing love is so much more than that.

I took incredible advantage of this emotion most of my life simply because I had a surplus of it.  Although I didn’t always say “I love you”,  I always felt the emotion.  I didn’t realize what a gift this emotion was to receive.  I honestly thought I needed more, or a different love.  I danced around the cute words “i love you” when in a relationship, not realizing the emotion itself between friends was offering just as much support.

There are kids that don’t even know the feeling of love.  KIDS.  Which could take me to an entirely separate rant regarding my jury duty experience – peep that story (here).  If you paid attention you’ll likely notice I picked up this bit of information from the movie Instant Family – making me hyper-aware of adoption, & children without parents.  The fact that so many kids have never felt loved before?  That takes the soul out of me.

But there are adults that don’t feel loved and they need love too.  That’s not an emotion that expires when you grow up or get comfortable.  One of my favorite quotes is: “Respect people’s feelings.  Even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, it could mean everything to them.”  When we become adults, we become assholes.  Right?  Think about it…  We often times assume everyone else has their shit together.  They appear perfect.  So we criticize them & pick apart their lives.   When in reality our perfect-looking lives are clouded with either self-doubt, anxiety or depression.  What we need IS love.  To know that someone else cares about us.

We are NEEDED.  We are WANTED.

Keep in mind, someone may literally need to hear the words “You are LOVED” 10x a day in order for the emotion to soak in.  They may need a constant reminder because of what they’re battling in their mind.  And, it’s not our job to understand that.  I hear people say they don’t understand how someone could feel this way or do this or say that – almost coming off as critical of someones mental health.  The goal isn’t to understand, we can only truly try to understand ourselves.  Right?  (& for me, that’s complicated enough.)  What we can do?  LOVE anyway!

That applies to everyone.  NOT just the people close to you, or people that agree with the same things as you, or people the same age as you.

The other day I was getting my nails done and the nail technician told me, as she was in a deep, long hug: “I love you kitty!”.   I felt weird.  Thank you?  I’m no professional at telling people I love you.  But I don’t think that’s the point.  With the word LOVE at the front of my mind daily, and the emotion to back it up – I truly feel like I can change the world this year.

We NEED love.  Some people’s lives depend on it. Let’s love each other.  Everyone.  As much as possible.

Hopefully, this gave you the inspiration to lead with LOVE too.  Love can be such an easy emotion.  We should practice it.

Have a great Valentines Day, spread that love around!  We NEED it.

Be thoughtful,

Xx

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