No longer a stranger, you listen all day to these crazy love-words. Like a bee you fill hundreds of homes with honey, though yours is a long flight from here.-Rumi

This year Valentine’s Day went by like just another day in our household.  Some of you may say….that is the way it should be… after all it is just another example of a capitalistic system while others might say why didn’t you take this opportunity to embrace the love in your life.   I was feeling a bit antsy about not acknowledging the day so I asked Andre if he wanted to go check out Valentine’s Day the movie.

We really had a great time and we laughed a whole lot.  One of the key messages in the movie is truly loving the person in your life for who they are and not the person that you want them to be.  Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in our own expectations of others and forget that we are not so perfect ourselves.  I know I am guilty of this.

There were multiple references to Rumi (13th century Persian poet) in the movie, which definitely piqued my interests as I have heard about Rumi but never read any of his work. So I looked up some of his work when I came in and found the quote above and found it so true to my life and what I do.  Everyday my mission is to capture the love of the families that I work with but in order for me to get better at what I do, I also have to make sure to foster and nurture the love in my life.

In doing this not only does it make me a better photographer but a happier, healthier person. I say even if Valentine’s day is a capitalistic invention, if it reminds us to honour the people in our lives that we love then I am all for it.

Xo

Gina Ayanna