With the month of February and Valentine’s Day approaching, it is natural to think of love.

These days we seem to love everybody. “I love you” is a signature sign off that has become a popular norm. I think it’s a positive thing to hear “I love you” so often, especially when you add meaningful hugs in addition to fist bumps and handshakes. Yes, it’s a nice change to see love being passed around out in the open. We seem to be owning and showing our feelings on a new level. We’re learning that sharing is caring, and intimacy and vulnerability are pathways to love.

Yet, what is love? How do people love when they were never shown love? What are the challenges of trust? Can you learn to love? When I ask myself these questions, I always think of my dad. How did my father, who never had loving parents around, make me know that I was loved? He could never say “I love you” or hug you. His dedication to protection and provision coupled with putting family first was all he could do. While there wasn’t a real atmosphere of love, there certainly was an energy of love. As a child, and even as a young man, it was hard to understand. And like so much that goes into love, it has taken time and patience and understanding, and yes, experience to appreciate the gift behind the curtain.

Love can be a gentle, soft place to land. It can also be so overwhelming as to defy expression. Love shifts, adjusts and transforms within each relationship. As we mix in backgrounds, nationalities, generational norms, our ability to open up, share and grow is challenged as new forms of loving emerge. And with each new expression, the world becomes a better, more interesting place.

The journey of love is different for each of us. I do believe that we all need to love and be loved. I know I did and do. So go forth and love some more.

Spread love around,

Joe & Asta Dunne, Publishers