My valentine to you

February 14, 2015

To live in this world, you

must be able to do three things:

to love what is mortal; to hold it

against your bones knowing your

own life depends on it; and, when the

time comes to let it go, to let it go.

-Mary Oliver

The poets say love is immortal and maybe it is, but our experience of it here on earth is mortal and there will come day when we must let it go.

And that, in itself, is the best reason to love with wildly and with great abandon.

When I look back on the years of my life already passed I smile because that’s what I’ve done.

I’ve loved with great passion.

I’ve let go when it was time. Oh, sometimes kicking and screaming, but still, I did let go.

And then, lucky me, a love I let go of returned unexpectedly, burnished by the years and the better for it.

Yes, it’s a happy Valentine’s Day for me.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too. Here’s my valentine for you.

Guaranteed to be non-fattening because it’s a sculpture I saw in a San Francisco gallery.

Carolann says:

February 14, 2015 at 7:14 am

Happy Valentine’s Day to you too Carol. May your day be filled with warm hugs, kisses and love!
Carolann xo

Cathy Sikorski says:

February 14, 2015 at 9:39 am

Lovely. Yesterday, my daughter, who lives in Ireland, got engaged. Yes, to an Irish lad, who is wonderful. That is the ultimate of letting go for me, a Mom. Happy Valentine’s Day! Lovely post!

Lisa Froman says:

February 14, 2015 at 10:08 am

Oh I love the sculpture! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Carol Cassara says:

February 14, 2015 at 4:21 pm

Me, too!

John L Smith Jr says:

February 14, 2015 at 12:10 pm

I have a hard time letting things go even with that restraining order against me.

Carol Cassara says:

February 14, 2015 at 4:22 pm

You are hilarious!

Keriann McKenna says:

February 14, 2015 at 1:00 pm

Happy St. Valentine’s Day, Carol.
Thanks for posting those wonderfully wise words from Mary Oliver. Letting go is, for most, an extremely difficult thing to do. For us mortals, who like to at least feel as though we are in control, letting go of people and things is a kin to surrender. Surrender is a word our brain links to loss, and sometimes it is a loss–other times it’s a found freedom. When “let it go” doesn’t work for your mind, try “set it down.” I find it’s a much easier concept to deal with.
Hugs,
Keriann