In honour of February, the month of love, the IAM team came together to reflect on what love means to them and how it manifests in their lives:
“Love is when you are happy to be spending time together even if one of you is asleep. Love is to lean on each other’s strengths and to forgive each other’s weaknesses.”
– Abby Harricombe, IAM Administrator
“For me love equals connection. When I think love, I think of the people that I am connected to. I smell shea butter body butter and feel my lover’s touch. I see the faces of loved-ones in my minds’ eye. I hear the fading sounds of Leonard Cohen singing about his Susan.”
– Michelle Boonzaaier, IAM Program Manager
“Love manifests itself to me in the interconnectedness of life and being present. It is found in my wife’s smile…our daily debriefing conversations…the presence of friends…it is found in the early morning, as the birds’ song announces the start of a new day, the realisation that I am not alone and that I am deeply loved.”
– Ecclesia de Lange, IAM Director
“Love is kind and warm. It is accepting a person as who they are and assuring them that they are safe. Its life giving and affirming.”
– Thuli Mjwara, IAM Process Coordinator
“Love is tender, sensitive and inviting. Yet, love can be harsh, unyielding and all-consuming. For love leads you to places unknown – to spaces uninhibited – to depths mysterious – and to heights unexplored. When love is expressed from the soul, it liberates the mind and connects with spirit. To love is to live… eternally.”
– Marlow Newman-Valentine, IAM Regional Coordinator
“Love for me is continuous forgiveness, effortless smiles with a touch of heaven.”
– Greyson Vanguard Thela, Intersectional Process Coordinator
“Love holds the space for people to become more humane and just. Love reconstitutes our most inner demons of brokeness, unforgiving hearts and despair into wholeness, forgiveness and hope.”
– Hanzline Davids, IAM Process Coordinator
This little video from a few years ago still makes us smile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs
What does love mean to you? How is love showing up in your life this February, or in your everyday? Use the hashtags #loveislove and #liefdeisliefde on social media to share your thoughts.
Here’s to wishing you a life filled with love in whatever form it takes!
The IAM Team
