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Greeting people of the internet! My name is August, I am 17
years old. I have known Gillian for
about, oh goodness me, 7 years? I think that is about right. Like Gillian, I live on a small farm in NH. I
enjoy photography, music, playing guitar, the ocean, and hanging out with my
amazing friends.
My topic to add to this lovely blog is what does loving with
your heart vs. loving with your heart and soul mean? Now, I admit to nothing more than a little
something about love. All of this is
just my thoughts on the topic, and all of this can be applied to someone
special, a friend, a new acquaintance, or a family member.
To begin with, we will start with loving with just your
heart. I believe this is a much more
simple kind of love. The kind of love
that is like “Aw, their cute, they are funny, they are sweet. Aw aw aw look at
them I just love them. I want them to say something cute to me and ask me out”. A first love kind of love, a kind of love
that you will never quite forget, or get over.
Or if it’s for a friend, it’s like:
“Oh I have a major friend crush on this person. I want to be
their friend so bad. I want to get to
know them better, because they are really funny and cool”
This kind of love teaches you a lot of stuff. What it means
to love, have it returned, or have it not be returned. It sets you up for being able to love with
your heart and soul.
So now this is the part where I make things all gross and
personal. Sorry, but I am trying to give ya’ll a “real world” example.
Last year, I had my first “love”. I liked this guy for about a year and a half
all together. I told him I liked him,
which was a first for me. I thought he
was just too cute, too good to be true.
He played instruments, he was very talented, and gave killer hugs. I was completely head over heels. As a result, I didn’t really listen to
people when they said “Eh, yeah he’s a bit of a player”.
A. Because I was in first love with him.
B. Because I didn’t know any better. All my experiences with him were a first.
Long story short, it didn’t work out the way I wanted it
too, but that’s all water under the bridge.
We still maintain an “A-Okay” friendship of sorts. Even though sometimes I still want to punch
him the throat.
Now we come to the heart and soul part. Loving someone with your heart and soul is so
much deeper, so much more. It’s a best
friend, someone who has been there for you always, someone who can get you out
of your worst mood in matter of seconds, and someone who you would do anything
for. If this love is one based on
romantic attraction, how attractive they are is only a small part of the story.
Who they are as person is a much bigger part of the story. If it is a friend, you want to know their
entire story, you want them to trust and open up you. You love their family, and them, and
everything about your friendship (even the parts you don’t like).
My example for this is more about a family then one
person. I became really good friends
with a sibling pair I met through some of my extracurricular activities, and
immediately clicked with them. One night
after we went out with a bunch of friends we went back to their house to sleep
over. I have never felt so at home with
a family that wasn’t my own before.
They’re the quirkiest, oddest, coolest, craziest, funniest, family ever.
I love them with everything I have, my heart soul.
The mother is hilarious. She was warm and friendly towards
me, but at the same time has a very sarcastic “Ain’t nobody got time for that”
crass sense of humor (which I love). The
father, not only has a super cool past, and he is witty and knowledgeable. The two kids that I know best, are just the
best sibling pair, they complement and know each other so well. As individuals they are just as, if not more
cool and both super talented. They have 3 children all together, one of whom
has special needs. At first, I didn’t
know how to act about this, but both he and they made me realize I didn’t have
to act any different. They are so
comfortable with the fact that their son/brother is autistic that they have a
level of understanding and communication with him that blows me away. They have
taught me so much, and I have had my disagreements with members of this family,
and may not be friends with some of them anymore, but that doesn’t stop me from
loving them. They stick by each other,
don’t judge, don’t care, yell at each other, but still love each other. That
makes me love them. It doesn’t matter to
me that I might not understand them sometimes, or that they may appear to be
weird and sometimes really dysfunctional.
That, to me, is loving with your heart and soul. When it doesn’t matter
what it looks like or feels like, when it doesn’t matter if you get angry, or
get hurt, you still come back to a place of love.
On that note, I leave you.
I hope this post makes you think a little more about love, especially
that which is unconditional.
Love, Always.
August.
