LOVE. If I start writing everything I know about love: the ways it consumes me about life’s simplest moments, how it once ruptured my very being, and all the love I hold for people in my life, I’ll be here awhile. So when I think about love, I think it might come down to this: the essence of life is love; love as a way of living and being. You are what you love. To welcome love into your heart is to be changed in all its forms. To love others and to be loved in return — with friends, family, and what so many of us desire, romantically, is one of the purest feelings. I think it’s about finding people to sit in the kitchen and laugh with (and cry with and feel with). We are parts of every place we’ve been, every person we’ve loved, every book we’ve read. I’m not sure if Cory Muscara quoted this from somewhere, but it leaves me with both an awe and an ache every time I read it: “we touch life to the extent we allow ourselves to be cracked open.” Love seems to do that to us if we have the courage to let it. Let the love surround you, you’ll be surprised to find it’s in most places you look, but don’t forget to drown yourself in your own love — the person you’ll spend all of your life with is you.

Book Recommendation:

These two books might be my favorites ever: All About Love by Belle Hooks and A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. So many lines in these books sit softly within me, here are a few I hold close:

• There is no fear in love…when we choose to love, we choose to move against fear

• See all human behavior as one of two things; either love or a call for love

• To know love, we must tell the truth to ourselves and others

If you want a heart-felt, lighter read and good laugh, I’d say Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. It is relatable and navigates the world of love at our age in a free-spirited way.