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I like the idea of dedicating not just a day, but the whole month of February to thinking about love. Lest you are someone that is holding together a broken heart right now, or perhaps preparing to break a heart, or maybe you would give anything to be in a situation where hearts could even be broken, fear not! This Valentine’s love of mine is for you too. In the way that we say thanks in November, celebrate magic in December, and set our resolute course in January, dedicating February to spreading some love seems to be the next logical step, doesn’t it? So let’s put Hallmark aside and talk about writing real love letters.
Forget heart shaped boxes and plastic roses with glue gun dew drops, the doldrums of winter are the perfect time to tell all of the people that you love how you feel with a pen. Tell you mama, tell your best friends, tell your sweetheart, tell your dog, tell yourself. Remember, love is classically (and I’m talking Greek classics here, not Led Zeppelin) defined in four ways because even back then, or perhaps more so back then, they understood that love is not strictly limited to feeling all hot and bothered when you see that special someone in his skinny jeans. The Greeks aptly categorized love as agape, or a deeper true love, hopefully the way that one might feel about his or her life partner, eros, the passionate sensual love that we all got a taste of when we saw Jordan Catalano for the first time (anyone, anyone?), philia, the affectionate love that we have for friends and family, and storge, the kind of love that we feel toward our children or family. I like to use February as a challenge month to find a way to honor all forms of love and do my best to splash it around.
The best way to celebrate any of these loves of yours is to sit down and write a good old fashioned love letter. The key things to keep in mind when writing a love letter are to tell the person how you feel about him or her, what it is about this person that makes you think they’re so wonderful, a specific memory or time that really stands out to you as being especially dear, and I think that a healthy dose of gratitude always goes a long way in these situations. Now for bonus points, please consider some dramatic language and flare, and of course, the all important doodles in the margin. You must always always date a love letter (this is the only non-negotiable aspect of the letter) and of course the final step is to seal it with a kiss.
Telling people that you love them might just be one of the coolest things about being a human. Rocket ships? Sliced bread? The Prius? I bet that almost every single person behind these phenomenons would credit someone that they loved with their success. Don’t be shy, just find the nearest mountaintop and start singing because I’m willing to bet that there’s at least one person in your life that really needs to hear it.
P.S. If you’re needing some love letter inspiration, check out Love Letters of Great Men , or the “Making Love” chapter of Caroline Kennedy’s curated collection of poetry, She Walks in Beauty . Be warned though, that Emily Dickinson knows how to fog up a window or two.
Amelia can often be found in deep conversation about heavy equipment with her two-year-old son Asher, begging her husband Drew to take her for another twirl on the dance floor, or dreaming about a world where little birds and forest creatures really do fly into houses to sing cheery songs while cleaning and making her ball gowns. She lives in Charlottesville, Va. You can follow her at her blog, Flux Capaciting .
I like the idea of dedicating not just a day, but the whole month of February to thinking about love. Lest you are someone that is holding together a broken heart right now, or perhaps preparing to break a heart, or maybe you would give anything to be in a situation where hearts could even be broken, fear not! This Valentine’s love of mine is for you too. In the way that we say thanks in November, celebrate magic in December, and set our resolute course in January, dedicating February to spreading some love seems to be the next logical step, doesn’t it? So let’s put Hallmark aside and talk about writing real love letters.
Forget heart shaped boxes and plastic roses with glue gun dew drops, the doldrums of winter are the perfect time to tell all of the people that you love how you feel with a pen. Tell you mama, tell your best friends, tell your sweetheart, tell your dog, tell yourself. Remember, love is classically (and I’m talking Greek classics here, not Led Zeppelin) defined in four ways because even back then, or perhaps more so back then, they understood that love is not strictly limited to feeling all hot and bothered when you see that special someone in his skinny jeans. The Greeks aptly categorized love as agape, or a deeper true love, hopefully the way that one might feel about his or her life partner, eros, the passionate sensual love that we all got a taste of when we saw Jordan Catalano for the first time (anyone, anyone?), philia, the affectionate love that we have for friends and family, and storge, the kind of love that we feel toward our children or family. I like to use February as a challenge month to find a way to honor all forms of love and do my best to splash it around.
The best way to celebrate any of these loves of yours is to sit down and write a good old fashioned love letter. The key things to keep in mind when writing a love letter are to tell the person how you feel about him or her, what it is about this person that makes you think they’re so wonderful, a specific memory or time that really stands out to you as being especially dear, and I think that a healthy dose of gratitude always goes a long way in these situations. Now for bonus points, please consider some dramatic language and flare, and of course, the all important doodles in the margin. You must always always date a love letter (this is the only non-negotiable aspect of the letter) and of course the final step is to seal it with a kiss.
Telling people that you love them might just be one of the coolest things about being a human. Rocket ships? Sliced bread? The Prius? I bet that almost every single person behind these phenomenons would credit someone that they loved with their success. Don’t be shy, just find the nearest mountaintop and start singing because I’m willing to bet that there’s at least one person in your life that really needs to hear it.
P.S. If you’re needing some love letter inspiration, check out Love Letters of Great Men , or the “Making Love” chapter of Caroline Kennedy’s curated collection of poetry, She Walks in Beauty . Be warned though, that Emily Dickinson knows how to fog up a window or two.
Amelia can often be found in deep conversation about heavy equipment with her two-year-old son Asher, begging her husband Drew to take her for another twirl on the dance floor, or dreaming about a world where little birds and forest creatures really do fly into houses to sing cheery songs while cleaning and making her ball gowns. She lives in Charlottesville, Va. You can follow her at her blog, Flux Capaciting .