I’m not a fan of what I call “Hallmark holidays” where industry has either manufactured a sentimental responsibility like Mother’s Day or hijacked a tradition. I’m speaking of Valentine’s Day. You can’t get a restaurant reservation. Flowers quadruple in price. Spouses stress about how much they should spend to show love. All thanks to the power of advertising. The 2018 list of the “20 Best Valentine’s Day Gifts for Him” include a lawnmower and a security camera. Romantic indeed.
But what is love, really? In a lovely article in Psychology Today, James Cordova equates love with attention. “Attention is the most basic form of love. Through it we bless and are blessed.” When we pay attention to our loved ones, we receive so much more than we invested.
But let’s not stop there. This same loving attention can be showered upon ourselves. Not with chocolates and roses, but with taking the time to attend to our breath, our tensions, our quality of life. When it seems there is no time for love in our world, that is the time to lie down, listen to our sensations and thoughts, a find new options for moving through life.
Enjoy this lesson for moving better and opening the heart. With love from me to you.
What’s Love Got to Do With It
