Life is for love?

As you may have noticed (unless you are the most unobservant person ever...), my blog is titled "Life is for love." I'm sure you've asked, "What does that mean, Sammi?!?! Is that just another cliché saying about life?!?!?" And the answer is NO!!!!!! No words have ever had more of an impact on my life before (okay not true, but it's pretty true). Let me tell you a little story.

Last month, I was fortunate to attend the AASC Spirit Conference at Apache Junction High School with student council. Attached are pictures from it, it was great and beautiful and funny and spirited and everything else good in the world. The theme was Wild Wild West so the sophomore class dressed as bandits... and what sexy bandits we were ;). There was this guest speaker whose name was Tyler Durman. And he was the most incredible speaker I have ever heard. He spoke to us for an hour, and he got everyone laughing and everyone crying. What he talked about was SO powerful, and it put life into perspective. I wish I was as cool as him, so then I could tell you exactly what he said... but unfortunately I suck. So I'm afraid I'm going to butcher what he said, but bear with me. Everything he said to us could be summed up in a few words: everyone wants to be loved. Everyone lives to be loved. The moment anyone ever gives up is when they feel they have a loveless life. And most of the time we are too caught up in our own lives and our own hunt for love, we forget about the people around us. It's easy to forget that everyone else has problems, too. Love is so, so important. Not romantic love, necessarily, but friendly love, love that listens and cares and wants the best for you. We live for love. Life is for love. It's the worst when we see people around us giving up hope, when they resort to things like drugs and self manipulation. Love and hope go hand in hand. Please, let Tyler's words be carried with you. Reach out to someone. Let friend's know you love them. It's so much more important than you think. Think about it - think of how lonely you feel after a bad day. Think of how much better you would feel if someone simply called you to see if you were okay, or complimented you, or made a surprise visit to see you. So maybe "life is for love" IS cliché, but it's so important, because loneliness and hopelessness and a loveless life is something no one wants.