Photos taken by Kristina Ferry
As we are in the season of love, it is important to remember all the different kinds of love we can implement into our lives. Implementing love in our lives is incredibly important to help us live the healthiest life possible. Many types of love are ignored in our society, and it is important for all types of love – not just romantic love – to get the recognition they deserve.
Self-love is one kind of love that is often not given the importance it requires. One of the smallest examples of practicing self-love that happened on campus recently are the flowers the McK Green Club sold for Valentine’s Day since it was not necessary to buy one for a romantic partner. Many people, including myself, bought a flower to celebrate self-love on a day all about romantics. Self-love can be celebrated in other ways too, such as making sure you are hydrated, doing your makeup every morning, wearing your favorite shirt, or buying yourself a small treat. These small choices that we make in our lives can impact our attitude and mood for the entire day.
In conjunction with the flower, another type of love that is important to implement in our lives is environmental love. Now, this doesn’t mean going outside and kissing some dirt, but rather a simple appreciation of nature. Some ways to practice appreciating nature are going outside and breathing in the fresh air, taking a small walk during the nice weather, and making a snowman during the frigid winter. A lot of us go outside just to walk to another building, not taking into appreciation what effort it took to make the world look as beautiful as it is.
Another important form of love is animal love. With many McKendree students living in the dorms, many of us are away from our pets at home. Studies have shown how important it is for humans to interact with animals and how it can be a mood booster. During Valentine’s week, McKendree University helped amend this loss by bringing therapy dogs into the library for students to interact with. It wasn’t necessary for you to feel down or in need of therapy in order to see the dogs, but I know very few people that would turn down a chance to pet a cute puppy. There are also small interactions with the animals on campus, like the squirrels and the birds, that can help develop this kind of love.
These are only three types of important love that can be celebrated and implemented within our lives. So tomorrow morning, wake up and try to celebrate the many types of love that we can use in our day-to-day life, making our lives just a bit better.
