Soon enough there will be a lot of talk about there being “love in the air!” Couples will be scrambling to find each other the most perfect and thoughtful gift and securing the best reservations in town. Throughout all of the hustle and bust, the idea (hopefully) is that we stop and think about how we truly feel towards one another. First and foremost, whom do we really love (i.e. who they are on an innate level)? What do we love about them? Why do we do we love them? Ideally, these are the questions we’ll spend the “day of love” thinking and reflecting on.
So in preparation of all this love talk, I guess a natural place for me to turn on this blog is to the context of love in relation to my college. Why do I love Emory University? For a real love to last (so I’ve heard), it has to be tested and proven over time. To be quite honest, this love I have for my university has been just that – tested and proven. We started off in an awkward place. There were things I didn’t understand about her (Emory) and things that made me question just how our relationship would be able to flourish and blossom.
The first few months of our relationship, I was overwhelmed with all of the aspects of Emory that were foreign, strange to me. Ideas, beliefs, and ideologies that I had already made my mind up about or even understood as common were challenged by Emory or even outright opposed. Of course like we all are guilty of when we’re uncomfortable or challenged, I focused on the negatives or where Emory and I disagreed.
Overtime, however, I’ve found that there are numerous places where I find my core and where Emory has her essence to be common ground. I’ve found so much of what Emory stands for and specific pieces of her to be placed where my heart lies. Regularly, I fall a little deeper in love with Emory knowing that so many of her qualities (i.e. the people, organizations, initiatives) complement my own. To be sure, I have found this harmonizing in those places I once viewed as foreign or opposing.
Most of all, I love Emory because she has stuck with me. Even in those times when I’ve doubted how well we “match” or how “compatible” we are, Emory has continued to win me over (often time without even trying). New ways to forge a prolific relationship and partnership or ways to find those ever-present commonalities are continuously sought. For what it’s worth, Emory has always tried to include me in all that make her what she is – even when I didn’t want to be included. And I have to say, that has to be love.