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| My sister and I remain fans of the pun Valentines from our childhoods. |
Word of the Week: VALENTINE
With or without a traditional
sweetheart, I am a fool for Valentine's Day and its message, "Send Love."
The trappings, of course, speak directly to my child and grown-up soul: paper, red, ribbons, doilies, stickers, handmade cards and envelopes and hearts, miles and miles of hearts.
I have come through the softening effects of time to know that love is the infrastructure of existence. It is, in the ideal, who we are meant to be, what we are here to do. While there are so many variations of its expression, I consider sharing to be the top choice. It is the jolliest potluck we will ever attend, the one at which whatever we have and bring is enough.
We get to be the chocolate covered marshmallow candy, squishable, thin of shell. We have the option to reach much more than halfway, to reach ALL the way to connect with anyone, everyone. It is not about what we get but what we give. Let us listen to what intuition confides and act upon it. There is infinite space within our human hearts.
We are asked to be patient with what we see as our shortcomings, asked to love ourselves out of the belief that we are lacking. We are the raw materials through which change comes into the world, one kind or encouraging or inspiring word at a time. We are a source of magic, of beauty, of wonder, part of nature, blessed with the gift of language and the power to heal. We are, oh the impossible luck, the Valentines.
