Happy Holiday Monday, friends.
I wrote today’s post in 2015 for Thought Catalog. It went viral- found a home on Huffington Post, and was viewed over 7 million times- a feat I still marvel at. I was twenty-five, working as a waitress, and so fucking proud of myself.
I stopped writing publicly somewhere between 2018-2019, uprooting all the momentum and following I had built out of fear that people would find out my life wasn’t perfect. I couldn’t write about what I was experiencing, so I stopped writing altogether.
I spent years justifying my hasty decision to uproot my writing career and all its’ momentum. Uprooting momentum was my favorite act of self-sabotage in my twenties, and I’m grateful I’m learning “why” and moving past that habit. More importantly, I’ve learned to forgive the past version of Leanne who stomped on her own dreams. She carried so much.
I’ve been going through my old writing lately- finding pieces in the most random places- Dropbox, google drive, Evernote , backup disks- little pieces of Leanne, everywhere. Re-reading my old work has been a beautiful reminder that it doesn’t have to be perfect to resonate. More importantly, re-reading my old work has served as a beautiful reminder that I have always had a voice and it’s only becoming stronger.
I don’t know who I wrote this about- as a Pisces I basically fall in love with everyone- but given that yesterday marked two years since Dan and I realized we were it for each other, it feels apropos to share.
You see them; maybe at a party, in line for coffee, or at the table on a holiday.
And, while, it’s never “love” at first sight, there certainly is a connection; an unspoken, indescribable feeling that this is a person that is supposed to be in your life. Your entire body is telling you, like it’s connected to a magnet, that you have to talk to this person, get to know them, and have them in your life in some sort of capacity.
To fall in love with someone is literally the most magical, mystical, and frankly, indescribable feeling in the world. It happens, suddenly and without hesitation.
To fall in love takes more than “just love.” It takes more than just “chemistry.” It takes patience, it takes acceptance, and it takes all of you, but in the most natural way.
To fall in love is to want to put in the effort. It’s knowing that this is where you want to be, and who you want to be with, and being willing to do anything to nurture that love.
To fall in love means embracing their idiosyncrasies and difference because to you, they’re endearing quirks.
It means not only supporting them but admiring them.
Falling in love is a genuine, pure, natural look between two people.
It’s going out of your way for that person, not because you feel forced to, but because you want to. You want to do anything for that person.
Falling in love with someone isn’t just about listening to someone’s passion and dreams; it’s finding ways to help them accomplish all of their dreams.
Falling in love is not just butterflies in your stomach. It’s an innate feeling that this person was made for you. You know that, before them, you were incomplete.
Falling in love is not relying on someone else for your happiness and confidence. It’s being happy and confident, and having that person add to your happiness.
Falling in love is having similarities that no one has shared with you. It’s being passionate about the same things, while also embracing one another’s differences.
Falling in love is missing them, but feeling secure enough to be apart.
To fall in love with someone is like having the best-kept secret all to you.
There are many different kinds of love out there, with all of them being significant and moving. But, true love, being in love, that’s the one, we all want. It’s the story of a couple that dies within hours of each other because their heart is so broken without the other.
Falling in love is a choice, but not the choice you think. It’s the choice to allow yourself not to be scared. It’s the choice of letting go of your own guard. That is the choice we make when we fall in love, and it’s the hardest one to decide. But, once we do, we are in for the ride of a lifetime.
As always, I’m grateful you’re here.
You can find more of my early Thought Catalog work here
You can find my poetry book on Amazon
You can find fun Salt, with Soul Merch Here
You can follow me here or SWS here.
I'll see you Thursday for a little bit of Salt.
xx,
L