Love is...

As a student I have mastered the art of procrastinating in many forms: baking sweet goods for my colleagues (I call it procrasti-baking); scrubbing my house from top to bottom (if I’m still being productive, then how can I feel bad about it?); making endless ‘to-do’ lists (again, a constructive use of time… right?); and the worst of them all, social-media stalking. 

This would generally be the process:

1. Refresh Facebook feed. Complain about nothing interesting EVER happening anymore (but did it ever?).
2. Scroll down Instagram feed. Complain about everyone posting their photos on both Facebook and Instagram, so I’ve seen it all before (of which I am guilty).
3.  Maybe, just maybe, something interesting is happening on Twitter (said no one ever).
4. Repeat.

And then occasionally, a glimmer of light. Through all of the videos of cats trying to fit themselves into tiny spaces, through all of the people complaining about their children in one post (only to rave about how much they love being a mother in the next), through all of the gym junkies posting selfies of their ‘progress’ (although, really, a different angle of the same bicep only shows that you’re a tad narcissistic, not that you’ve developed a mass of muscle in the last 48 hours), occasionally, something worthwhile pops up.

Take this video for an example: A homeless man in Germany being blessed by a random act of kindness.

Or the following link, showing the wonder of nature in a world so corrupted by man-made pollution and structure.

And yesterday, I stumbled upon something that really made me question how often I look at my life and can truly say the things I appreciate. Not the big and blatantly obvious elements of life that do often get overlooked (supportive friends and family, health, roof over head, etc), but the little, seemingly inanimate objects or situations, that may provide a small glimmer of happiness on a dull day.

So with that, I get to the point of this post: here, I write a list of small things that emanate love to me. It is not a complete list, and it does not define my happiness.  In such a dull time, I have decided this morning to remember what I love about life.

Love is the feeling of chills when hearing a brilliant song for the first time. 

Love is the gentle warming of frozen extremities. 

Love is waking on a cold winter morning, toasty under multiple blankets. 

Love is the gentle waft of that perfect coffee aroma. 

Love is surprise mail from an old friend. 

Love is a gentle chirp of happiness from the purring cat curled at my feet. 

Love is reading a passage that seems to have been written just for me. 

Love is walking through nature and breathing in fresh air. 

Love is watching a film that exceeds expectations. 

Love is reliving a memory that had almost been lost. 

Love is clean-shaved legs on freshly laundered sheets. 

Love is falling in love with a piece of art that affects me without reason. 

Love is the gentle glow of fairy lights in a dark room. 

Love is sitting down to a hot meal with a loved one. 

Love is baking the perfect cupcakes. 

Love is the creation of something I can be proud of. 

Love is an empty notebook. 

Love is knowing there is more than now.