Stephanie: great email. i love everything about it
me: haha. it's not supposed to be loved
Stephanie: i think everything is supposed to be loved
me: oh wow. i see you've started on the pot
Stephanie: hahahah....actually it's more of a Molly statement. She was in love with so many people and things...that I was trying to see if I felt that way...and sometimes…as in the email...i do and have learned you can love a lot more than you thought…and it doesn’t have to be only specific people...I can "love" Andy for example, but not like we normally think...instead I could love him for his conversation, but not necessarily be in love. It could be the pot or crack I have been combining lately)
me: haha or the yoga. Same thing.
Stephanie: hahaha. Perhaps.
me: so.... yes. I think you can love many things in many different ways
agreed. I suppose the thing about it is not to conflate "love" with various emotions if other words can be used to more succinctly define what you claim to "love" in other words, i appreciate the candid nature of your emails, but this appreciation is not necessarily "love," but rather "appreciation."
Stephanie: I agree to disagree. Hahah.
me: or I enjoy the companionship of my friend, but to say I "love" spending time with him is not the best description of feeling. But yes, we can do that
agree to disagree
Stephanie: why limit love to just a person or a something...why put a cap on what you can love...because for us who are not in love, I think to feel full we must find love in other places...therefore I love your email
me: but what about a love hierarchy?
Stephanie: okay I can do the hierarchy, cause i guess i love my family more than ur email
me: i agree there but I also think you wouldn't say you "love my email" as much as you "love" your Mom, say. So to use "love" suggests a "love relativism" which could dilute the meaning of love when you do say it. If you love everything, you could just as easily love nothing because the word can be rendered meaningless. It’s sort of like a "little boy who cried wolf" effect. But to find contentment and appreciation in the seemingly most mundane things is, of course, the way to live one's life (i.e. the email).
Stephanie: I like the conclusion That will suffice.