Love Actually

Love Actually is one of my favorite holiday movies. Although it requires a pretty significant suspension of my disbelief, it also reminds me of several of the most important lessons I've learned so far in this life.

1. We are all connected. People may scoff at the "butterfly effect", but I wholeheartedly believe that my words and actions send waves of consequence through the web of life. I believe the same is true of all life here. What a joyful thought it is that when I act in a loving way towards someone else, whether it's a small act of courtesy or a large display of unconditional love, that my action goes beyond that person and helps grant life and light to existence as a whole.
2. Love is the greatest power there is. Simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking, love moves everything. Once we are bound to someone in love, we are never truly parted from them ever again. The marks we leave on each other's hearts never truly fade, and they color every choice, every decision, every action, every event from that moment forward.
3. Love takes many forms. Like a well cut gem, love has many facets, each unique and wonderful. No two experiences of love will be quite the same, and yet we are all united by its light.

Call me sappy or delusional. Deride my quixotic view of this existence. I don't care. I choose love. I choose life. Merry Christmas, my friends. I love you.