on love.

As the official most loverish holiday of the year draws to a close, I find myself contemplating, well.....love.

My thoughts seem to go in every direction at once and come to no particular conclusion, but in that meandering journey, they cross over many delightful bumps. I think of the people I love, of the places that have been meaningful in my life, and of experiences that have tested and challenged me to grow in my capacity to love.

Side note: one thing I love is the aerial photography of Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Bertrand is a French guy who loves the planet. He also floats around in the air and takes breathtaking photographs of the planet to help others see the immense beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis. Funny how a little perspective changes everything, don't you think? ....but back to the subject at hand.

Love can be described as so many things. And wise people (people much smarter that I) have philosophized about it for centuries. There are theories and types and categories and reasons for it to exist. And I am certainly not bright enough to shed any new light on the matter. At least, not thus far on my short journey through life. However, there are two key observations that I have made throughout my dealings with love.
1) The amount you get is not directly proportional to the amount you are able to give away
2) The more you give, the more you have to give and (bonus!) the more you want to give.
Interesting. And I'm not talking sex here. I'm talking unconditional acceptance, devotion, loyalty, service, and sacrifice.

And the only thing I can land upon at the end of my general surmising on the topic of love is that there must be a source. A source at which this process of this giving of love must be started. This source must be never ending, all-encompassing, accessible to every human being on the planet, and contain an inexhaustible supply. Perhaps this is our......Creator. One who loves all of creation with parental devotion. The one who goes before and after, who is outside of time. Who knows every hair on our head and every worry in our heart. This is the God I am passionate for. This is somewhere I can start.

Passion. Now, there is something; could this be inextricably linked to love? My curiosity lead me to my usual destination when I am chewing on words: dictionary.com. This marvelous tool has helped on many occasions, but I will spare you all the definitions this time, as both words are used to define the other multiple times. I searched both "love" & "passion," and interestingly enough, it was not the definitions that peaked my interest:

From this non-religious website, I got a glimpse of God. I will end my musings with the dictionary.com origin of the word 'passion,' and synonyms of 'love.'

Origin:
1125–75; Middle English (<> late Old English passiōn ), special use of Late Latin passiō suffering, submission, derivative of Latin passus, past participle of patī to suffer, submit; see -ion

—Synonyms
1. tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration. 1, 2. Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person; it may also imply consecration to a cause. 2. liking, inclination, regard, friendliness. 15. like. 16. adore, adulate, worship.

One simply could not exist without the other.

Happy Valentines Day