Sending YOU a Love Letter
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
-William Arthur Ward
A year and seven days ago I wrote a blog post titled Love Letter to Crush which has now been read over 5,000 times all over…isn’t this crazy…the world. To date my blog has been accessed in over 100 countries, viewed over 25,000 times, and for every single one of you that has contributed to helping me grow this platform, thank you from the bottom of my heart. The emails, DMs, story shares, and in person conversations that start with “I read your blog” mean the absolute world to me! As I get older the more I realize how much it means to have someone take time out of their day to tell you how much you mean to them. It is one of the ways I choose to measure the relationships in my life. Notes I have from family and friends as well as from strangers are the first thing I would grab in a fire and are the words I hold onto and refer back to whenever I need a pick me up.
As time goes on the value I find in writing letters just keeps increasing. We are so busy today, striving to do more, have more, be more…but why? So we can in the future be “enough” for connection? So we can be strong enough, funny enough, pretty enough, intelligent enough, wealthy enough, successful enough, and popular enough to then one day feel that we are worthy enough for the love we all crave now?
If you know me, you must know I absolutely love people. I love talking, sharing and connecting with others. I wholeheartedly believe the essence of life is relationships. And I am head over heals for everything Love. After sharing many stories and connecting with many people, one of the hardest thing for me to grasp is the idea that we connect more through our struggles, imperfections, and failures than we do from our successes and areas of strength.
The Velveteen Rabbit is one of my favorite books in the world. I love one quote in particular that says “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.” To the people I love most in this world, I don’t love you for your successes, killer outfits, hilarious jokes, your willingness to snuggle, your GPA, bank account, and even your ability to sing. I love you for you, for the imperfect and flawed but authentically beautiful, you. And to those of you who have seen my flaws, my quirks, and everything insecurity in between and have gifted me with nothing but love in return, you mean the absolute world to me and have deeply impacted the way I understand the world and how I wish to live.
In order to thank you and spread more of your infectious love I have come up with a little love letter game. I have written and will continue to write letters to people who have impacted my life, made me feel special, helped me realize or more fully understand myself, the world and the essence of life, and who have helped me deepen my ability to love. I have or will give these letters of appreciation and love to special people in my life and thank and affirm them for all that they are. These letters are genuine and therefore I could not write them all in one sitting nor would I wish for you to do that either. I write and share these letters when I feel so touched by someone that it would be a missed opportunity not to share my love and gratitude with them. But the “game” part of this idea is centered around continuing to share this cultivated love. Once I give the letter, I ask that the person take it as an opportunity to spread their love, appreciation, and gratitude to three more people and hopefully those three people will continue the trend. The most beautiful part of this is that YOU can start a chain of love all on you own. And so I hope you do and I would absolutely love to know how it goes!
I firmly believe the essence of life is relationships, and even though it can be very daunting, intimidating, and scary to share our feelings and be vulnerable, it has been in my experiences that being real in this way is the key to the love and connection we all deserve and crave. On this beautiful Valentine’s day and for everyday to follow I hope you realize, feel, and remember how loved you truly are and take time out of your day to make those around you feel the same!
Love Always,
Casey McNamara
