Meredith Outterson

What is Love?

This week's guest philosopher is Meredith Outterson. Meredith is an intelligent, friendly, and helpful 5 th grader who loves to play with her friends. She and her friends like to play with her Polly Pockets dolls and the board games, Trouble and Connect Four . She also likes to play soccer, dance, act, ice skate, hike, and read. She is currently reading Little Women and an issue of Cricket magazine. Her favorite subjects in school are math and science. Meredith really likes to figure out how things work, and she loves working on science experiments. Meredith thinks she would like to study animals and nature when she grows up.

On to THE QUESTION! In honor of Valentine's Day, Meredith took on “What is love?” and “What is the meaning of Valentine's Day?”. After Meredith shared that she loves her parents and three sisters, I asked her to tell me what love is. Meredith said, “Love is a special feeling for someone. It is a feeling of comfort. It is a feeling that they will always be there for me, no matter what. And, it is the feeling I have when I know I will always be there for them too. People who love one another really like spending time together.”

I asked her if she thought there were different kinds of love. She said, “Yes, there is love for your family, love for your pets, love for activities such as reading or hiking (or even being a couch potato), and love for friends.” And, of course, there is romantic love. I asked her if some of these loving relationships were better than others. She explained that “They are all important and none of them is better than the others. All of them work together to make you happy.”

Meredith was about to go home and make Valentine's cards for all the kids in her class. I asked her to explain the meaning of Valentine's Day. “It is a day to be nice to other people and make others feel good. It is about being nice, sharing, and giving.” “Can anyone celebrate Valentine's Day, or do you have to have a boyfriend or girlfriend?” Meredith thinks Valentine's Day is for everyone. The boyfriend/girlfriend idea misses a lot of what Valentine's Day is all about. According to Meredith, it is a day to be nice to everyone. I asked her if Valentine's Day should be an official holiday, with no school. She wrinkled her nose and told me about the rules for official holidays (it has to be a big deal or a combination of smaller deals) and explained that Valentine's Day was just not a big enough deal. “Plus, if you get to go to school, you get to see more people that you can be nice to.”