February is over, and with it love?

By Jacqueline Camacho Rivera

February is over, and with it love?

It is known that no... or is it?

Let's imagine, for a moment, that love is over because it is only celebrated once a year. But what if it were not just an assumption? What if, for fear of being hurt, we closed our hearts to one of the most beautiful forces in life?

Something like that happened to me. And, to make a long story short, for fear of "losing" love, I chose to stay in a relationship that, from the outside, seemed ideal: many years together, a well-defined future and the certainty of having "achieved" what is expected of a stable couple. Maybe it would have worked. Maybe love would have borne fruit. But doubt weighed heavily. That doubt that lurks like a ghost under the bed, with a musty smell, that whispers every night: do you really want to stay here?

Because when mutual admiration and growth dies, what's left - habit? The pressure to comply with the social list of "marry before 29"? Or is it the fear of thinking that, if I leave, I won't know where else to find love?

As much as I remind myself that love is in everything, there is something in me that still believes that it should be given completely to one person. But after all these questions I came to a valuable conclusion, and I don't know what you think, but here goes:

We are a cake. Or, rather, whatever dessert you like best. And when I decided to leave, I realized that I hadn't lost love completely; only a small slice was gone, barely 10%. I see that lately we hear a lot that "I kept the love in my hands", and what a wonderful thing that is. Because holding on to love is actually a gift. It is to have the opportunity to rebuild, to weave with that love the broken pieces and to discover new ways of feeling it.

Because love never goes away. Sometimes we just get blinded, we cling to the idea that it must come from one place, and we forget the myriad sources of love that surround us.

Therefore, today I invite you: let's redefine love. Let us ask ourselves from where we are sharing it and if it is really love... or just fear, ego or dependence.

Let's open our eyes to new ways of receiving it: in the first coffee in the morning, in mom's voice, in divine signs, in birdsong, in an unexpected message, in a friend's hug, in a Saturday laugh, in dad's advice, in the loyalty of a puppy, in the magic of a forest, in the cinema with friends, in the sweetness of tasting your favorite food.