Have you ever heard of the phrase “love is a universal theme”? The roots of culture, connections, and experiences we encounter are shaped because love exists; even the mere fact of our existence is a creation of love that came before us. Thus, who are we if not for the stories of love that allowed us this life we have?
Literature reflects human experiences; it tells us various emotions and circumstances to better understand ourselves and our environment, allowing us to sympathize and empathize with it. Literature, as it mirrors life, holds many definitions of love and how we show it. Whether a chance encounter, a tragic ending, a fraught love, a love that rejoices with “kilig,” and a love that feels safe. This Valentine’s, we are reminded of how we emphasize how we give, receive, and understand love through literature, whatever ways we interpret it.
Literature is a love language, or at least it teaches us that. Bookshelf Ph invites us to enter the world of love through the books that can fill you with it.
Sari-Sari Stories: Romance Edition
Sari-Sari Stories is a series providing safe spaces for Filipino authors to share their stories. The romance edition offers a collection of four romantic tales. After reading this collection, I realized love is a complex and often terrifying experience. It can lead us to question ourselves and make us do things we never thought possible, both good and bad. Ultimately, love demands significant sacrifices. Love makes you selfish or selfless, teaching you how to fight or let go. This book helps us realize whether or not our love or infatuation is not coming from a place of delusion, making us see a reality beyond what’s true because love, despite being a universal theme, should bring happiness and harmony.
Warm Blankets in Cold Midnight by Janella Ventura
There’s a line in the author’s note that caught my attention; it says “I was only thinking about writing the beautiful parts of love. Later, I realized it was so selfish of me to even consider that.” And I realized that, as humans, we focus primarily on the good parts of love, neglecting the realities of how difficult it is, too. Love is not about seeing only the beautiful side of someone but instead embracing the rusty parts of the experiences of it that we learn to rejoice and to be grateful for love still. Throughout the sparks we may experience the first time around, the hardships and short-comings we encounter after quite some time of knowing someone, the normalcy from the ease of being around someone, and the ways we find something to live for every day because of love, all sum up the ways love can be a warm blanket in the days we shiver and need comfort during cold midnights.
Lost You, Found Me by Zara Carbonell
“to the woman I have outgrown, the woman I am, and the woman I have yet to be, may she find her voice, own it, and use it for what she believes in.” Through the business of life, I too can get lost in it, maybe even losing myself in the process of thriving to be something or someone, forgetting that I can only pour more love and life into this existing version of me now. I can learn to be gentle towards myself, finding love in the process of just being. “Lost You, Found Me” is a story of navigating life through its hardships– the confusion, the losses, the burn-out, and the changes. The question of life and love lies in our strength of picking ourselves up and adapting through the learnings of it and showing up for ourselves to meet our emotions where they’re at while providing them with acknowledgment and gentleness. It’s a relatable read, especially for those feeling lost in their 20s.
This Valentine's season is a time to honor love’s versions. How do you define it? And how do you celebrate it in your life now? Hold on to that answer to those questions and ground yourself with the beauty and comfort of love.
By June Danielle Folio