As I walk through numerous commercial venues, it is hard to look pass the red velvet Valentine’s hearts, heart-shaped balloons, and, of course the chocolates in heart-shaped boxes that are readily available to help us share our feelings and demonstrate that we love others. Yet, my first instinct is to express something akin to chagrin about the limited nature of love these red mementos seem to represent.

Love appears to be one of the most complex human states of being or demonstration of emotional connection that most humans proclaim to seek and treasure. In some way, we are all on a love quest. Fortunately or unfortunately, many of us encounter our first glimpses of love in our family worlds from our parents and family members, enhanced by books, and other social media. We tend to conceptualize love from watching others demonstrate love.

Unfortunately, it is rarely easy to discern the depth and commitment of the love we think we see without sustained observations, authentic conversations, and soul-searching. Commercialized expressions of the emotion often furnish little help for us, as we explore love. If we are lucky, we begin to understand that love transforms our views of ourselves and, ultimately, of the world.

For some of us, we observe parents who show their love for us by sacrificing for their families, working long hours, providing adequate food and shelter, and rejoicing in each of our victories–as we transform into more complicated human beings. There are also opportunities to observe how others love their significant others from various viewpoints in our career progressions.

As we continue to develop as humans, our concept of love usually also broadens, and we discover a capacity to empathize with, or extend something often referred to as brotherly love to, friends, neighbors, and even persons we do not know well. Oftentimes, we will give of ourselves to these people by offering the gift of our time, money, intellect, talents, guidance, and/or best wishes.

Then, as we mature, and if we are lucky, we broaden our capacity to a notion of care, concern, or possibly love for those less fortunate than ourselves in America and in other countries. We care about the environments in which others live-their abilities to live purposeful lives, to drink clean water, to live without crippling diseases, and to raise healthy children of their own.

And, possibly, as we watch our children and grandchildren grow, and as we guide them and shape their capacities to evolve into loving and caring world citizens themselves who will contribute intellect, compassion, and visions for sustainable environments, we will also be extending our expressions of love even farther ahead to future unborn generations.

The love quest–possibly there is nothing like it on our  planet.

Happy Valentine’s Day!