I recently wrote a blog post about vulnerability that ended up being extremely relevant to one of my best friends. Despite her past of closing her heart to romantic opportunity, she has consciously been making an effort to open herself up, and put herself out there. I told her that no matter the outcome, I think that is one of the bravest things we can do as humans. It is so easy for us to close off our minds and our hearts for fear of being hurt.

For me, this quote took on more meaning last night. Yesterday I completely forgot to write my new weekly post, but I am sure glad I did, because it provided me with a lot of perspective. I had been dreading the conversations with my boyfriend involving life’s more complex issues: religion, equality, racism, gender, and the like. I knew we came from very different backgrounds, and feared that if we found out just how different we were raised that it would create conflict. Urban vs. Rural. Religious vs. not so much. Equality vs. opportunity. We spoke with passion, but not with anger, diving deeper and deeper into the personal relevance of each subject breached, and for a moment we were both so completely ourselves that I thought the room might concave. I could feel the frustration in the air like a cold sweat, and then, silence. We just stared at each other.

And it was in that moment, that I had to chose. Do I continue to bare myself to this man, open to insult and injury, or do I shut it down, change the subject, and pretend everything is fine?

Is love worth it? Is he worth it? Or better yet, am I?

Despite every bone in my body telling me to avoid confrontation and walk away, I battled on. Each step, though seemingly dividing us, bringing us closer together, until we were so lost in conversation that nothing around us mattered.

And let me tell you, I have never been more honest about my fundamental beliefs and struggles.

And I have never felt more safe and whole.

So yes. Love is worth the bravery. Love is worth it.

You are worth it.

As you make your way through this week, let this serve as a reminder that no matter how different we are, in the end we are all human. And as flawed as it makes us, the one thing we can still do is love one another.

“Mark 12:31- And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

-L