Love note #13.

I’m glad that Erica loves herself. I’m glad that this statement is carved into a fallen tree trunk. And I’m glad I was carrying my camera when I nearly tripped over this particular dead tree.

Erica’s declaration is now 13th in my accidental photo series.

Here’s how it started:

One day last November, while out walking, I came across this:

I thought it was cute. I’d just begun my daily photo project a few weeks prior, so I snapped it, pleased to have stumbled upon something interesting to post that day.

 

A couple of weeks later, I found this:

Nice, right?

 

And then, in January, Coral showed up again in a different part of town:

Wow, someone really has a thing for Coral.

 

Later in January came this:

Okay, now I felt I might be on to something. All the graffiti in my town was not, evidently, crass or offensive or nonsensical. Could even crappy-looking graffiti be forgiven for looking crappy if it sent a warm and fuzzy message?

 

Since then, I’ve had my eye out for public love notes… and here are the rest (so far):

 

I decided to file the 13th love note under this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge of Satisfaction for two reasons:

1) Adding photos to my collection of random public love notes is gratifying, not in the least because I love imagining the story behind the scribbling; and

2) While the rest of that tree trunk was etched with several versions of So-and-So loves So-and-So, Erica claimed self-love. I’ll choose to imagine that it was Erica who whittled this message herself, not someone else who wrote it as an insult. I’ll choose not to imagine Erica as a lonely, resentful person. I’ll choose not to imagine her as a narcissist. I’ll choose to imagine her as a well-adjusted, emotionally intelligent individual who has great capacity for giving and receiving love because she loves herself first. I’ll take her carved declaration as an act of self-acceptance, independence, gratitude and satisfaction. Brava, Erica!

Okay, clearly, I’m wearing my rose-coloured glasses tonight. They’re lighter than my regular specs, so I try to remember to put them on every once in a while.

Especially when I’m looking for love notes.