I’m writing this on Valentines’ Day. As I get older I’m less sceptical about celebrations like this. True, it’s heavily commercialised today but I think it’s okay to have fun once in a while.
Also, I understand now that there are many types of love out there beyond the erotic kind. The Greeks had identified these for us millennia ago, dividing love into seven categories: Eros, Philia, Ludus, Pragma, Agape, Philautia and Storge.
The love for nature falls under “agape” which is always giving to others and needing nothing in return. It’s a type of love that endures and rewarding. I believe if we put our care into nature, it will always protect us in return. It’s a relationship.
The love for nature falls under “agape” which is always giving to others and needing nothing in return.
I love Pangkor Island for personal reasons, mainly because I have many beautiful memories with my late brother. Shortly before he passed away, he sent me a text message – a short poetry actually – saying something like, “I will always love you as long as the sea bubbles kiss the sandy beaches”.
He was a writer and he would scribble short sentences like that everywhere in his notebooks.
I’m grateful for that message today, because everywhere I go in the world and whenever I come across the ocean, I will see his eternal love letter to us.
After The Rain 