What is Love?
Musings About Love on Valentine’s Day
I’m walking the cliffs of Ferragudo this morning with Sophie. I watch the way the beams of sunlight play off the ocean, diamonds sparkling in the azure waters teasing me, inviting me to dance with the sunlight. They remind me that I have all the time in the world to live and to love.
The swallows have nested in the crevices of these towering limestone walls. They dart in and out, playing a game that flows between water and sky with the airstream. My breathing unconsciously adjusts, deep breaths fill my lungs, then the exhale of all worries. My body begins to move with that same freedom so beautifully displayed by their flight.
Sophie is busy sniffing out the stories hidden in the bushes and tall grasses. One scent catches her attention. She bounds over the reeds like a rabbit being chased.
The gravel sounds rough under my boots, resistant, and dangerously slippery. Nevertheless, I maintain my balance, never straying too close to the edge. I’m afraid of heights, or maybe I’m afraid of flying. Somedays, I don’t know which it is.
I lose myself in memories of the loves that have appeared and disappeared throughout my life. Most have lodged forever in my heart. Like strings on a violin, I recognize each note played in my symphony. I recall the words, places, and feelings, some pleasant and some dissonant.
What is love?
It is my path, my way home.
It is dangerous, inevitable, irresistible.
Love is my DNA.
Who I love, how I love, what I love creates the person I am always becoming.
It is the doorway to my courage and the source of my fear.
It is the revolution inside me that will not be quelled.
Love is the face that returns my gaze, smile, or touch.
Love is the baby I held 26 years ago and the man who created that child with me.
Love dwells in the words I speak and write, manifests in every intentional act, and resides quietly in the reflective moment.
The echoes of heartbeats, insistent, poetic rhythms that capture silence and soul vibrate in the spaces between sounds.
Love needs no reward, no exchange, for it to be worthy of my attention and respect.
What freedom I feel when I can be in love with you!
How my soul sings, and my spirit dances when a genuine affection takes hold of my heart, body, and mind!
Love is what created you and me. You are not simply a biological outcome. You came as a sacred offering, of the same miracle that made stardust and planets and all life.
I don’t want to forget every love I ever experienced. They must not be lost to time or dismissed because of pain.
Each moment I love is a particle in my creation.
Every step I take is imbued with care, grace and ultimately love. It is the only thing that will save me. It is the only path forward.
Love is the only thing worthy of my prayers.
Now, the sun dips behind a cloud as I return on the same path I walked earlier in my reverie. Sophie runs ahead of me toward the spot where we began our walk.
We are all becoming.
How you walk your path, who you will become, will depend on how you choose to love.
Originally published at https://www.aliciamrodriguez.com on February 14, 2022.
Photo by elaine alex on Unsplash
