you are loved

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! Today is one of my favorite days of the year, and I'm happy to be sharing these little bits of love with you.

First, this letter from Johnny Cash to June Carter Cash:

Second, this article about a woman named Peace Pilgrim. It will make you love and believe in humanity with your whole heart.

Third, this song:

Fourth, these quotes:

"Before I die, I want to be somebody's favorite hiding place, the place they can put everything they need to survive, every secret, every solitude, every nervous prayer, and be absolutely certain I will keep it safe. I will keep it safe. "

-Andrea Gibson

"The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe."

-The Village

"What kills love? Only this: Neglect. Not to see you stand before me. Not to think of you in the little things. Not to make the road wide for you, the table spread for you. To choose you out of habit not desire, to pass the flower seller without a thought. To leave the dishes unwashed, the bed unmade, to ignore you in the mornings, make use of you at night. To crave another while pecking your cheek. To say your name without hearing, to assume it is mine to call."

-Jeanette Winterson

"To live in this world

You must be able
To do three things:
To love what is mortal;
To hold it

Against your bones knowing
Your own life depends on it;
And when the time comes to let it go,
Let it go."

-Mary Oliver

Fifth, these powerful books about love of place:

When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice, by Terry Tempest Williams
The River of the Mother of God: and Other Essays by Aldo Leopold

And lastly, this poem:

I hope you're able to feel, share, acknowledge, and celebrate love today. See you soon! XO