Peace & Love To My Readers🖤
The self-proclaimed month of love took us by storm this year!! I can honestly say I saw more focus on black love in the community vs just one day of love on the 14th. I saw plenty of women gathering their girlfriends and enjoying Galentine’s Day with self-care and bonding activities. As a community, we have been through so much in the aftermath of the pandemic that I have also seen an increase in exploring self-love and self-care. Can I speak for anyone else when I say being home for so long, outside was closed and some of us had children who were wired up and HUNGRY 24/7 caused us to start wanting to have alone time more?! But where could you go? What could you do? Our lives as we knew them were now shifted into a place of uncertainty. What did we have the most time for? Spending time with ourselves & household members.
Black Love is so beautiful. So colorful. So eternal & royal. Healthy black love is one of the leading components in making our community thrive, grow and inspire. One of my favorite sights to see are elderly couples who look like they are still as in love as the first day they met. Sometimes I would even ask them what their love story is and how they think the longevity of black love today differs from back in the day. The stories I have heard all lead to the original thought of love being golden. In today’s society, so many factors can make or break a relationship. From childhood traumas to environmental changes and adapting to what love “looks like” in the eyes of the outside world. Sometimes I ask myself, is love a word of action or is it a feeling? Maybe even both?? Can the action of love be alive without the feeling of it, and vice versa?? As a black woman who has experienced all kinds of love from toxic to genuine, in the later part of life I have come to realize that self-love is the foundation of all love. Loving me first is teaching someone else how to love me and also what my love languages are. The exploration of love can get deep, and it all comes back to self and how we as individuals define LOVE.
Black love in the community has also been at an all-time high. I have seen so many businesses be birthed and flourish because we have taken a stand on supporting our own. Many black businesses have also been pouring back into the community and showing us that we can and will become stronger together. Even as individuals, we can all show love in the community with something as simple as complimenting each other even if we are strangers, having empathy for one another as well as giving support without the other hand expecting something back in return. Our efforts as a community will determine the future of our youth. Many children end up in situations they didn’t ask to be in, those blows can be lessened by them seeing the “it takes a village” mentality & seeing the generations before them come together and bounce back from any and every adversity. As a people, we are accountable for not only our actions but also our thought processes. What you think, you believe. What you believe, you live by. So why not think of love first? And live every day walking in love itself??
Our black love doesn’t end when February does, we honor and carry it 24/7…365! Until next time, I’m Faith Rose and this was REAL TALK!
Peace & Love To My Readers
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