There is something about the glow of a person’s face when they are around someone or something they love. This ‘glow’ (for lack of a better word) is, I think, the closest we as human beings can come to understanding just how wonderful (again, lack of a better word) love is. The start of the summer always makes me think of love because so many things I love I only get to experience in the sweetness of summer. Some of my loves include thunderstorms, the smell of rain, sunsets, parks, milkshakes, stars, laying out, beach towels, sunglasses, dresses, flip flops, barefeet, painted toenails, and the sound of the ice cream truck as it rolls down my street. Summer for me is the ultimate expression of freedom. If freedom was contained in a single season, summer is that season. Independence Day is July 4th…but there is something about getting out of school or even work early and still have the sky be a brilliant blue.

As of this point in my life, i’m in love with many things and people. i love anything eco-friendly. i love the colors green, purple, and blue. i love the ocean, where i’ll be going for a week this summer. these things keep me strong and believing that someday, i’ll find someone who loves similar things. lately, I’ve been on a huge soulmate thing. I don’t know if that’s because of the books I’ve been reading, or the free time I have now that classes aren’t in session….but something about this season makes me want to experience it with someone i really care about. there’s absolutely nothing better than dancing in the rain

so, enough with all this mumbo-jumbo about me. (what is it with me and rhyming words….amorous/glamorous and mumbo/jumbo??) I am really looking to make two points with this post. The first? Being in love makes people glow. More so than any amount of money could ever do. That’s why it just pays to be happy….no matter what it takes for you to be happy, you should do it. Find a passion. Do what makes you feel alive.

The second point I’d like to make with this post is: Travel to a foreign country is sooo important. I am a huge believer in the power humans have to connect with each other. It is so pertinant to society that we make connections with other cultures and realize how unique and beautiful everyone is. The picture I chose to include in this post I found on National Geographic’s website. It was taken in Rome…a beautiful, romantic city. As I mentioned in the caption, whenever I see pictures like this, I yearn to board a plane and fly to a foreign city, if only to get kissed like that. That is love. And it’s real life (not that an upside down kiss…from spiderman isn’t). Pictures like that create romantic images of foreign cities and people for me. And I believe these cities/people are romantic, but I also know that romance exists right here. I think sometimes I, and people in general quite possibly, get fascinated with foreign destinations because they are foreign. Unknown. It’s always easier to think that if you were somewhere else, your life would be more exciting and romantic. But I don’t think that’s the case. Your life is what you make it. Here or in Rome or wherever you are at this given point in your life. This doesn’t stop me from wanting to travel though. I am planning on seeing one of my best friends in Italy when she travels there in the spring. Two of my other best friends are traveling this year too…and what a good time to go! Truthfully, I’m jealous.

Amor. Love. Love yourself. Friends. Family. Boyfriends/girlfriends. Passions. Seasons. There is so much in this world to love.