Let's love a little more, not less

I really ought to be asleep. But I want to sort through something today that bothered me. I want to voice (type) these thoughts.

There have been times when I'm singing along to one of my favorite singers with thousands of people at a concert, and I have been filled with immense love for all of the people present. Do I know them all personally? No. But can I still love them? I think so. I think I can love them for sharing such a fun and unifying moment with me. I can love them for being humans who enjoy good music and who wanted to have some fun.

There have been times when I'm frustrated with a slow driver or a slow walker, and I allow myself to pause and consider that even though I don't know them personally, they have a story that makes them who they are. They are probably doing their best, and they most likely are not trying to frustrate me. I don't know that I love these people perfectly, but I feel like I obtain a measure of love for them as I pause to consider who they may be.

There have been times when I'm in the mountains, walking and thinking, and I consider how people, even mere acquaintances, have affected my life. And I feel love for all of the people in my life.

There have been so many times in my life when I have felt love for both people I know and people I hardly know.

Today in relief society at church, we were discussing how we want our ward's relief society to be. Some people we expressing that they don't want people to be fake. And although I fully support being genuine, I found an example that was given of "fakeness" to be confusing. Some people were saying that they don't like when a ward member will say she loves the women in the relief society because often that person doesn't know everyone individually. Someone suggested that instead of saying, "I love you so much," people should say, "I feel good right now" when talking about those feelings in relief society. I disagree with this. Saying I feel good would feel inadequate in explaining those moments I shared above. I would describe the feeling I have had in those moments as love. And saying that I feel good feels like more of an affirmation of myself and my own feelings than a way to try to build relationships with others. I don't dispute that the ward relief society and the world would be better and more loving if we took time to learn more about each other. I fully support a kinder and friendlier world. But I also don't think we should assume that someone expressing their love for a group of people is being disingenuous. I think having even an ounce of love for someone is something to be encouraged. Yes, we can be better at loving each other as human beings. We can do more than we're doing now. But I think even a little love is a good thing and should be encouraged.