Measure Your Life In Love

And just like that, everything changes.

As my friends begin to return home from their schools across the country, everything else begins to fall back into place. It’s amazing how I manage to forget that I miss them every time they’re gone until they suddenly reappear. Then all at once, I am overwhelmed with love. I am reminded of the many splendors of life, the many miraculous moments of beauty scattered among the days. My friends, all of my relationships, are the answer to the question “what’s it all for?”

My mom once told me that I lived for my friends. She meant that I should try and start living for myself and for the most part, I agreed. It’s important to love yourself the way you love the people in your life, but the truth is, I never will. That’s not to say that I won’t do what I need to do to make my existence worthwhile, to die knowing that I really lived, but what’s worth living for more than love? I do live for my friends. I live for the love that they allow me to share with them, the laughter and hugs and smiles that illuminate each moment. I live for our happiness.

And I’m okay with that. More than okay. I’m thrilled by it. Perhaps my priorities do fall out of line sometimes, but I don’t need grand things out of life. I’m not in search of riches or status or prestige. I’m in search of love. Any and all kinds of love, and you don’t need anything but an open heart to find it. My heart is open to the world, to the vast pleasures of both simple and complicated things. In any given day, I can fall in love a thousand times with my family, my friends, strangers, nature, an idea, a song, a book, a movie, a cup of coffee, a piece of clothing, a joke, a quote, a voice, a story. I am in love with the idea of love in every waking moment.

That’s the thing about searching for love. If you search for it, you will undoubtedly find it. Love is everywhere. Love is life.

Welcome home my loves. Thanks for making my life worth living.