Love Shack, Lately
Love, what a funny little thing. Right?
Lately, I’ve been thinking about love.
I mean, how fitting with Valentine’s just a blink away? The love that’s been on my mind is the kind that lets you breathe. Not the dramatic kind or the one that keeps you guessing.
Shoutout to Mary J, because what is real love? From my refined understanding, it’s not loud, not chaotic, and it definitely doesn’t require you to prove yourself constantly.
Love is easy.
Love is safety.
It’s being able to show up on that daily stage without the dress rehearsal.
Just in case no one has told you, love isn’t another person. Love is synonymous with you! Don’t worry, I’m still learning this myself — but what I’ve grown to realize is that the love we desperately seek is all in the boundaries we finally uphold. Or when our system stops overextending and compensating. It’s also the way we easily choose peace, instead of potential or any other diminished element.
Luther Vandross said it best: “A chair is still a chair, even when there’s no one sittin’ there. But a chair is not a house, and a house is not a home, when there’s no one there to hold you…”
Homes aren’t perfect; there’s always something that needs to be updated or rearranged. Homes get destroyed in natural disasters and freak accidents. That’s why home is more so the spaces we intentionally curate.
So, what am I trying to say?
Love is whatever our systems are craving right now. Love is an ongoing project that requires hard work and imagination.
In this season, remember that no version of the over is the same, and it cannot be duplicated. It’s only tailor-made for you.