My Year of Hopefulness - In Love with Love

"Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along." ~ Rumi

This year I've been very fortunate to bear witness to come of my very favorite people finding the loves of their lives and getting married. Some people will say that they hate going to weddings alone because it makes them feel badly about their own romantic situations, or lack thereof. Though I do wish I had been at these weddings with the love of my life there with me, I never for a moment would say that it made me feel badly to go to these weddings on my own. If anything, they left me feeling more hopeful and joyful about love.

Tonight I had the great honor to attend Leah and Peter's wedding. They are friends of mine from college. I've ever been to a wedding where there was this much love so abundantly present; there was no way to pack even one more ounce of love into the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity without it bursting. It was a beautiful thing to see, and even more incredible to feel love in that magnitude.

As an institution, I find marriage slightly terrifying and as a result have shied away from it in the past. It's only this year, and actually only in the past month, that I've been able to see that a marriage based on love and respect and kindness is quite possibly one of our greatest hopes for happiness. To see two people bring their lives together with so much courage and faith in one another is awe-inspiring. As Rumi says, it's not about meeting our love, it's about finding the love that has been with us all along.

Peter said it so beautifully to Leah in his vows: "I have been sailing home to you all my life." And that line did it for me - that sentiment helped me make the leap, leaving fear behind. No wonder my friends who have gotten married this year haven't felt scared about marriage. No wonder they could put their trust into someone else so completely. Love is about finding our way home, about providing a home for the heart of another. In its most authentic form, it is about being on a journey toward someone who has been journeying toward us. Here's to love, and those brave enough to take up the journey.

The photo above is not my own. It can be found here.