Love Is the Answer
John Lennon sang it, and I’ve felt it in the deepest corners of my heart—love is all there is.
One February morning, I perched on a tree branch near the San Diego River, letting the rhythm of the water soothe my mind. It was Valentine’s Day, and I found myself reflecting on love and life, two forces that have shaped every twist and turn of my journey.
A dear friend of mine, Robert Powell, who is no longer with us, once wrote a book called The Blissful Life. It’s the kind of book you can pick up at any moment, flip to a random page, and find exactly the wisdom you need. Just now, I opened it and read:
“Harmony between the inner and the outer is happiness. On the other hand, self-identification with the outer causes suffering.”
It’s a truth I’ve come to understand over time. The world might feel like it’s spinning into chaos, just as my grandmother used to say—going to hell in a handbasket—but the only real peace we have is the one we cultivate within. Everything else is an illusion, isn’t it?
Lessons in Letting Go
Another truth I’ve learned is that forgiveness is an essential part of love. You can’t fully love anyone—your partner, your friends, even yourself—until you let go of past hurts.
I remember those Love Is cartoons from the ‘70s, little reminders of what love looks like in everyday life. The most famous one read, Love Is… being able to say you’re sorry. It was printed everywhere—on greeting cards, T-shirts, coffee mugs. At the same time, the movie Love Story declared, Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
Which is true? Maybe both, depending on where you stand.
An Unexpected Love Story
I spent years searching for love, imagining a tall, dark, and handsome man—someone like my father, Joe Mooney, who carried himself with an effortless charm and had a thick head of black hair well into his eighties. I thought I knew exactly who I was looking for.
But love had other plans.
On Valentine’s Day in 1982, I met a man who didn’t fit the description I had in my head. Mark Schulze was blonde, hazel-eyed, and shorter than me. If I had been too stubborn about my “ideal type,” I might have missed out on the greatest adventure of my life.
Thankfully, I was open to possibility. Decades later, here we are, still together, still holding hands, still riding side by side—on life’s journey and on our mountain bikes. We even got married with our bikes, celebrating our love in the best way we knew how—by doing what we loved together.
Finding Love Where You Least Expect It
If you’re still searching for love, stop for a moment and ask yourself: Do I truly know who I am? Do I love myself? These are the questions that matter before love can find you.
I think about the old parable of the drowning man. He prays for God to save him but turns away a truck, a boat, and a helicopter, waiting for divine intervention. When he drowns and asks God why he wasn’t saved, the answer comes: I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter—what more did you want?
Love is like that. It doesn’t always arrive the way you expect. It might come in the form of an unexpected meeting, a person you wouldn’t have considered, a moment you almost overlook.
So be open. Laugh. Let go of old wounds. Read books like Illusions and The Blissful Life. And most importantly, listen to your heart. Because in the end, love isn’t something you chase. It’s something you recognize when you’re finally ready to receive it.
Embark on a Date with Love on Cowles Mountain
