V-Day: A tribute to love.

Last week I asked my students to write about the greatest thing ever- an idea that I stole from Parker J Guidry, to follow the ''Persuade Me'' idea given to me by T$ Harnett (Thank goodness my friends are English teachers. Laird, Wetz, Vander Yacht- consider this a challenge).

I got some pretty interesting papers from some pretty interesting kids. Of course, it was a mix of kids being honest and kids trying to impress me (subjects included the tooth fairy, cell phones, St. Nicolas, the washing machine, being in wild nature, winning a feau major tournament, being alive, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, and love). The most well written was obviously 'The Theory of Relativity' (''Other people might think that [the greatest thing ever] is something else. Well, they're wrong, but according to this theory, they might be right. Because it's all relative''). I'd love to hear your votes, just based on the ideas alone-- and if you give a one-sentence description of your choice, that would be awesome. I am stuck between two.

However, due to the proximity of everybody's favorite holiday, I will share ''The Best Think Ever'' written about love (yes, she did exchange the word 'thing' for 'think' every single time).



I agree with Žana, but for slightly different reasons (I'm definitely with her on the stomach thing- although there might be something even better in those conversations when you forget about all of the silly things problems you're dealing with and just soak in the goodness of it all).

''Love must be sincere, hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love.'' -Romans 12:9,10

''And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'' -I Corinthians 13:13

''Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.'' -I John 4:7

Mmmm- Love is God. And this doesn't JUST refer to the stomach-sensation type of love. In Slovene, there different expressions for romantic love and everything else. Ljubim te means I love you in a romantic sense. For a long time, I didn't know this and I left notes for my 'aunt' that were signed ''Ljubim te, Nicole''. I was, clearly, a little embarrassed when I realized I was telling her I was in love with her, but of course she understood my very obvious mistake. The term 'Imam te rada' literally means 'I like you', but is given to people that you care a lot about, but are not in love with.

Although having 2 words for love could have probably saved me from some awkward situations in my life...

Answering machine message to my apartment landlord a few years ago:
Hey Alex, it's Nicole from 602, I hope you're well... (probably 2 full minutes later... so anyway, I'll just put them under your door. Hope that's ok, call if there are any problems. Love you... (choking sounds when I realize I just told my landlord I loved him. Click)

...I am still glad that we only have one word for this... THING, because I do believe it is, in its finest and most beautiful form, God. However, it has many sides- loving your family is one facet of love, your friends another. Loving your landlord is another :) your children is another, and loving the poor is another, loving your enemies is another, and loving your 'lover' is another still.

My friends (and doctor, and students, and everyone, really) always ask me right away ''Kje živi fant??'' (Where does your boyfriend live??). Here or at home, I've always (ok- minus the 2% of my life where I had a boyfriend. Which was mostly in junior high) felt some pressure to defend myself for not having a boyfriend. I want to answer dramatically with ''We just broke up this morning, thanks'' or something more optimistic (''I'm sure I'll meet my future husband today'') or something true (''I don't have one... but Mr. Universe asked me to dance!''). I want to stop having conversations like this:
So, do you have a boyfriend?
-Nope
Well, you do LIKE men, don't you?
-Yes dad, yes I do

In truth, I may not have too much depth in the most celebrated facet of love, but I believe I am really lucky to have a vast existence within love itself. My life is RICH in love. I get to love people in different cultures. In different age groups, ethnicities, religions. I get to love enemies too right now :) And I feel oh-so-much love from my family who is 7 time zones away. Not gonna lie- still super excited for being in love (with someone who is actually in love with me too). I'm excited to learn more about this part of God that is also a part of me.

It's pretty funny to be surrounded by middle school kids on days like Valentine's day. I remember LOVING this day when I was a little girl... I would wake up a half an hour early and eat heart-shaped pancakes with mom and dad before school, then go to school where I would get a shit-ton of candy in my cereal-box-decorated-like-a-castle-or-something. I remember HATING V-day in middle school when I fretted over what sort of gift to get my boyfriend-of-the-month (really peaked in the 8th grade). Again, I liked Valentine's day in high school when we received the results of our ''love/compatibility'' test and my number one match (aside from Matt Gibson, who MOST of the girls in the school were paired with... Rachel G, you're one lucky duck) was Alan Schurle. The past few years I've been all over the spectrum, but mostly frustrated that a day exists when all of the single people all over the world remember that they're single.

This year? This year I am still annoyed that so much emphasis is placed on having a partner to love romantically, although I am PERSONALLY not putting this emphasis on myself. I have dreams in my life- and one, only one of them, is to carry out some of the others with a partner. I am intensely satisfied at the moment, pursing this bit of life that I think that I should pursue... and I am pretty sure (ok, hopeful) that the right man will pursue me when he's actually ready. But he won't be pursuing ME unless I am following my heart even if that leads me alone to crazy, foreign lands :)
This year, even in lieu of some guy picking flowers for me or standing outside of my castle playing 'In Your Eyes' on a boom box (never gets old), I'll celebrate the incredible vastness of love already packed into my life.

A very special person told me last week that I have a gift of bringing people together. I hope that this is true, and think that it is maybe because they feel some sort of love. The most beautiful part of this is that the group of people that has formed in the past couple of weeks has done so, in a sense, to take care of and love ME through my difficulties in school. It's amazing how taken care of I have felt by all people in my life. And not just here in Radovljica- it's pretty amazing to be loved from all around the world.

If I could, I would send you all flowers and candy, and stand outside of your windows blasting music and pretending to be John Cusack, but I do not have the time or money... so I made you this e-card instead. Hope that you like it.
Love you so.