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“Some love is so consistent that we mistake it for background noise.” ~ X

There is just this kind of love that is constant, always there, and over time, we forget to appreciate it until the day it is no longer there. Suddenly, its absence is loud, hard, and heavy on us because it is the kind of love we have grown so accustomed to.

For some people, it is a mother's nagging, the constant bickering of loved ones, or the annoying little habits of our friends. Oftentimes, the little kindnesses we experience over time begin to feel like home. We keep expecting them because we are used to them, and somewhere along the line, we stop seeing them for what they are: expressions of love.

Perhaps it is because we have become so familiar with their presence that we no longer recognise their value. We forget that not everyone has someone who checks up on them, someone who notices when they go quiet, someone who remembers the little things, or someone who cares enough to be annoying. We mistake consistency for something ordinary, forgetting that there is something extraordinary about being loved repeatedly, even in the smallest ways.

One day, we might wake up and realise that the very things we once tagged as too much are the things that held our worlds together. The nagging has gone quiet, the familiar arguments have ended, the messages no longer come, and the little kindnesses we barely noticed have become the things we would give anything to experience one more time.

And that is one of the saddest things about being human. Sometimes, we do not realise how much something means to us until we have to learn to live without it. We wait for grand gestures and extraordinary moments to remind us that we are loved, forgetting that love often lives in the ordinary, in the things that happen so frequently that we hardly think to call them special.

Dearest reader, we should learn to pay attention to the love that has become familiar to us. To appreciate the people who show up, the little things they do, and the seemingly insignificant moments that make our lives feel a little less lonely. Not every expression of love will look beautiful, and not every act of care will feel pleasant, but we should be careful not to mistake the familiarity of something for the absence of its value.

After all, some of the things we take for granted today might become the things we miss the most tomorrow.

So, what love have you become so accustomed to that you have forgotten to be grateful for it?

@favvy_Okwans🖤.