Thinking Out Loud: Love is Not A Word Reserved Only For Sweet Romance

Bakit mo mahal?

"Love is not a word reserved only for sweet romance"

That comes from the song Slip Out by the fictional band Beck from the anime series Beck.

I just feel like that there is this ever increasing notion that love is something that is reserved for the romantic kind, that love is only between loving couples. The truth couldn't be further from the truth.

Last weekend, I went to Quezon City to attend an event my college organization was a part-organizer, part-participant. I am making a conscious effort to visit QC and my friends there more often as a part of my recharging process (as you know, I have started studying again last January), and so far the results have been stellar. I used to thought that it was merely due to a change in scenery, but the truth is much...warmer.

The reason I get to recharge my internal batteries (as I call them) is due to being around people I love, and that love me as well. Now don't get me wrong, I have people I like and love at the office, and being around your family in a daily basis is a great thing that fills me with love on an everyday basis! But having this different kind of love sip in me is highly therapeutic! So yeah, I guess it is a change of scenery. Confusing? 

Anyway, the point is, I love these people! And it actually feels great to say you love someone without it needing to be about romance. You just love them. That simple! To give and receive love this simple and free of complications is very gratifying and really satisfying. See, love does not need to come with pain and unconditional suffering and tears and grief all the time. Love is a wonderful thing, and this is one of the best ways to see it in that light.

So this post is for all those people that I love. If you are reading this and you feel like I am talking about you, then I am indeed talking about you! Pero dahil naniniwala tayo na 'Don't assume unless otherwise stated', I'll state some of you explicitly!

(Pero wag magtampo kung wala kayo dito. This is based on those that I was with last Sunday and I have very limited time right now. Plus if I include all of you, this would be one long post. Don't worry, I'd make a more comprehensive post at some other time in the future)

Milky my prodigy, Klai my little sister that bullies me often, James my gunpla bro, Myan my morning clubmate since 2010, Adre my partner-in-TangwayBondingNights, Alex the Great Radical Thinker, TheDinar, President Uzzi, The Roj-Mia-Ange triumvirate, Mar my brithday bro (kahit wala ka dun), The every beautiful Nisay and our talks about her awesome thesis, Jeff and his smiles, the duo of Lem and Dags, and even the new ones like Agano-we-make-great-speech-coaches, Rica-heres-a-Magnum-kasi-di-ka-sumama and Emma Rose-HugotPaMore-Alvarez. 

I probably missed some names (like most Oscar acceptance speeches) and I apologize in advance. But to all of those names above and more, I love you all.