What is Love?

One of our favourite parts of creating our Valentine’s Collection was the conversations it created at Head Office around ‘love’.

“Time, gratitude, happiness, success, freedom, equality” – these were all words that came out of these conversations and so, in celebration of all love, of adoration, friendship and devotion, we asked a few duos to share their thoughts on the wider topic of love.

 

Emma and Diana

Mother daughter duo, Emma and Diana have an extremely close and unbreakable bond, which you can almost feel through the words they’ve shared below. They chat about anything, for hours “serious issues but also silly things too – and we love to shop and go for coffee”. As great organisers, they plan lots of family events and holidays together and Diana says she can see their relationship becoming even stronger as Emma establishes her life and career.

 

What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Do you celebrate the day?

Emma: I love Valentine’s Day simply for what it stands for, love. That is, being reminded that not only am I loved, but also that there are so many people in my life that I care about and love too. It's a day to be grateful for the people around me and between you and me, I do love a handwritten card and a cute bunch of flowers!

Diana: Valentine’s Day for me means reflecting on love and our relationship with each other.  I always buy my husband Andrew a card for Valentine’s Day – I love finding that perfect card to write special thoughts in.  We usually go to dinner or have a nice bottle of champagne to celebrate our love and life together and just take a moment to look back and remember the little things in our relationship that make it important and unique.

For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

Emma: The place I call home. For the family that come and go through the front door,  for the memories, the laughs, silly moments, and even the tears. I am grateful for the feeling that my home could be anywhere, big or small, full of people or just Mum and Dad, and I will always have a home to come back to, knowing that I am loved and supported. I remind myself everyday not to take that for granted.

Diana: I feel most grateful for my parents deciding to move from the UK to Australia in the 60’s to give their children more opportunities in a young country.  This decision to start their lives again in their 40’s shows courage and resilience which must have been so daunting for them but gave myself and my siblings such opportunities.  Mum and Dad were always reminding us of how lucky we were to live in Australia and how true that is.

What is the greatest accomplishment of your life to date?

Diana: My greatest accomplishment is my two beautiful children who have grown into passionate, strong young adults who are establishing their own careers and strong relationships. With that comes the realisation that your children are now strong enough to live without you – a heartbreaking thought but that is what you want to eventually achieve as a parent. 

Emma, what has your mum taught you about love?

Mum has taught me that sometimes love simply means understanding someone and supporting them no matter what. Mum is my best friend and her unconditional love for our family has taught me that sometimes all a person needs, is to be understood.

Most of all, I would say that mum has shown me how important it is to love often, and love with your entire heart. She has such a big heart and always takes the time to show us. She has proved how much easier it is to let go and forgive, and to love people completely instead of wasting time on grudges or negative emotions.

 

Josh and Kelly

Together for 10 years and married for four this year, New Zealanders Josh and Kelly, along with their two daughters Sunny and Ari, have made their home in Lennox Head in Northern NSW.

What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Do you celebrate the day?

Kelly: Honestly, Valentine’s Day is just another day for us. We don’t celebrate it and never have - not once in the decade we’ve been together. Perhaps it’s even more of a cliché to say, but I think we celebrate love, in some way, every single day.

Josh: Kell and I have never really celebrated it. It’s cool that some people get into though. 

What is the greatest accomplishment of your life to date?

Kelly: We moved from New Zealand to Sydney six years ago and then to Lennox Head in Northern NSW two and a half years ago. The life we’ve created up here is by far my proudest accomplishment. I have my own brand and marketing consultancy which came to fruition when Sunny was four months old. We were juggling parenthood and work and came to realise we wanted more time as a family as well as a lifestyle closer to that of which Josh and I grew up with in New Zealand. When we made the move, Josh spent a year as stay at home dad with Sunny and then did a complete career 360 – from an Environmental Scientist to a Performance Marketing Specialist and he joined my business. We now work three days each, have one day each with our youngest and one day with both girls - and most importantly, lots of time together as a family. We work late into the nights to make up the hours but you don’t ever get these early years back so building a business that allows us to do what we love with brands we love, all the while spending optimum time with our girls – that’s success to me and it makes me very proud.

Josh: Our family. And also, our work/life balance. Being able to spend a lot of time with our girls when they’re young is amazing. I feel super lucky to be able to do that and it’s not something I take for granted.

What do you wish you could spend more time on each week?

Josh: One on one time with my wife. We’re slowing getting some back but the girls consume 99% of our spare time at current.

Kelly: We don’t have any family in Lennox so there’s not really a lot of opportunity to spend time together anyway. Once the girls are in bed, often we both head to the office to work so we need to dedicate time just to each other and not feel bad for switching off.

What colour is love and why?

Both: The colour of the sun.

Kelly: Being near the ocean, with the sun shining and the people we love brings us more joy than we can explain.

What do you want to teach your daughters about love?

Kelly: I want our girls to know that the most important person you can ever love is yourself – and once you do that fully, you will attract the most wonderful humans, experiences and opportunities into your life. I want them to know that love is kindness, empathy and understanding. I want them to know that even when the world feels scary and overwhelming, that love – for themselves, for the planet and for other people – is more powerful than anything else that they might be facing.

Josh: That loving yourself is the most important thing.

 

Taylor and Sarah

Friends for six years, Taylor and Sarah met during their first week of uni when they were both studying Interior and Spatial Design at UTS. Now living in Manly and both working in the architecture industry, the friendship has seen them travel to many places all over the world together.

 

What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Do you celebrate the day?

Both: Collectively we aren’t too big on Valentine’s Day and it’s not normally a day we celebrate. It’s the more spontaneous moments that are most cherished - the unplanned, no expectations kind of days.

Sarah: However, for me  personally, it always reminds me of when my mum used to pack a chocolate love heart, about the size of my palm, in my school lunch box for Valentine’s Day - so if I had to say something I would say that Valentine’s Day is about small gestures between loved ones.

Taylor: I think even though I’m not a Valentine’s Day kind of person and it is a bit of a cliché - it’s still a lovely occasion for people who want to celebrate love to just celebrate love! With whomever that may be.

What do you wish you could spend more time on each week?

Sarah: Taking myself and a book to a quiet place and settling in for a few hours. 

Both: Ah we both said read more! (Obviously we don’t get to do that very often)

Taylor: I would also love to draw more! Or at least be a little bit more patient to do so!

What colour is love and why?

Sarah: Colours are sort of infinite, kind of like the way love is different for everyone and endless in the way it’s felt. I’m not sure that it's possible to be drawn to one particular colour, as it's not able to express that.

Taylor: I don't have a specific colour for love! Definitely agree with Sarah on this one

What have you learnt about love?

Sarah: That it’s constantly evolving, as are we. 

Taylor: I’m still learning about love! But love is expressed and felt differently by everyone - so be kind to each other.

 

Shop our limited Valentines Collection.  

 

Emma and Diana: @tealily

Kelly and Josh: @lisa.sorgini

Taylor and Sarah: @unikspace & @lynden_foss