Today, Love

Like so many other personal style bloggers on the scene, I am growing weary of what I bring to you here every day.

First of all, my pictures generally rank at a consistent subpar rating. I have bought no fancy camera for you, dear readers, and though I sprung for a $1.99 spiffy photo editing app on my iPhone, I rarely use it for my pictures, dear readers. I just slap up these pictures of my face and my body wearing outfits that I hope you find inspiring.

I, however, feel uninspired by my work here. Though I, and I'm sure the public's eyes, enjoy putting on clothes every day--who am I kidding? I love athletic leggings and Medusa hair as much as the next gal--I want to bring this corner of the webs something more. Sure, I believe my witty banter must often force you to crack a smile, but I am a teacher at my core. As a teacher, I want to make you feel something. Really feel and think about these little things that add up to a great, big thing called life.

(Very Important Note: If you are a personal style blogger, please do not feel offended. I am in no way hating on or shaming what you do. I am hating on what I have not been doing as well as I could...as well as so many of you do. And maybe, just maybe, I fail to reach my potential because I need this outlet to serve a different purpose for me and for you, a purpose more central to what compels me as a human. Man, this ish is getting deep.) 

For months now, I have pondered what I could write about--my schtick, if you please--that would be any sort of different from what so many other beautiful, sincere, unique voices bring to this cyber stage. After a week of sickness (thank you body, for choosing this method of forcing me into a "vacation"), a little light bulb flickered in my congestion-filled head. Who inspired it, you ask? The very people around me.

On Facebook yesterday, I posted the following:

I thought my students made my job awesome, but it's also my colleagues who never fail to make me laugh and always lend a hand. Thanks, guys, for holding down the fort for me while I fight off the plague. If my tooth is the root of all of this distress, I might get dentures.


On Facebook today, I posted the following status (I am nothing if not verbose):

Forgive me for being sappy, but just learn to deal with it. We spend so much time complaining that it's nice to spend more time counting our blessings. Allow me to share with you what love looks like through my husband's actions this week: 
* Jeff woke up with a coughing, pathetic me at 5a.m. to fix me toast with a side of Mucinex DM and Lemon Zinger tea with extra, real lemon (which he accidentally, in his sleep deprived state, mixed up with hazelnut coffee...hazelnut coffee with lemon tastes as horrific as it sounds.)
* He sprayed Lysol on a Swiffer mop to clean the walls and ceilings of any possible pollutants that could further contaminate me
* He took multiple trips to the market for all of my whims (which included such items as "real lemons" and "snack bars.") Upon arriving home, he declared, "the Vick's vapor rub had stuff in it that I use on car parts; I wasn't letting that touch your skin."
* He commenced a dance party for one in order to make me smile. 
* When I called him at work, all a twitter about Comcast robbing me of the last hour of my Wesley Snipes movie, he checked out the situation on our online account. 
* He entered a building of teenagers to retrieve midterms for me to grade now that I can see words on a paper without falling over. 
* Every day, he has arranged for someone to be on call in case he's unavailable. 
Yes, I could tell you, "He took care of me this week," but sometimes you need to pinpoint all of the little things that add up to a big love. I will also need to revisit this list next week when he can't manage to hang up his coat, put away his electronics, or put his dirty clothes in the basket next to his side of the bed.  

As I cleaned the plague out of sheets and the bathrooms and the couch and eyed the dogs long enough to decide that no energy remained to give them a nice, long soaking in the tub, I said, "what the world needs now is love, sweet love." (Thanks, Diana Ross and The Supremes. You're welcome for that video and the ear worm.)

Anyway, I decided I could bring you love, but with a bit of my wit and banter. At first, I considered a different name for this adventure: what love looks like. I decided that was too long and not profound enough. I decided on Today, Love.

Why this name? Well, I appreciate the many interpretations it allows. It can be a soft command, telling you to love (someone or something) today.  It can be an affectionate address to a person, calling him or her love. It can be a personification of love, a testament to love itself: today, love, you are a husband taking care of his sick wife. Like love itself, the name encourages posts and tweets and instagram shots to take many forms.

What do I want to do with this expedition? I want to share with you and I want you to share with me what love looks like. No pretenses. No fabrications. All truth. Be it in the form of articles or life experiences or observations. It need not be romantic love. It can be love for your fellow (wo)man, your compatriots, your clients, your students, your patients, all of the whoevers who enter your life (in any way that they may enter it). 

I am not sure yet what shapes (for sure, I know it will evolve into multiple shapes) this idea will take: a post several times a week? a brand new blog? a weekly guest post? a daily picture of love? a weekly love link up? 

Throw your ideas my way. 

Until the next post, enjoy Squirt, one of my puppy loves, wearing her party hat:

P.S. I will still get dressed and periodically show it to you because sometimes my love takes that form, folks.