“General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere...if you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around”- That quote above is from one of my favourite movies of all time, Love Actually. I am a sucker when it comes to romance. I thought this week I'd write about “Love” since it's a little more upbeat compared to last weeks post on sedition and gun violence.
- Thursday was “Hari Raya” in Malaysia which means a day of celebrations after the fasting month (though in Malaysia it usually means a month of open houses and weddings). Since I wasn't visiting any relatives this year and I had already depleted my supply of fireworks I thought I might as well get June 2013 finished with.
- “But Faiz, it's August. You're already finished with June. Are you feeling alright?” is what you might be thinking now; what I meant was get done with Kaelyn & Lucy's June 2013 montage video. I had missed their recent livestream so was looking forward/dreading it.
- I'm not really good at explaining things to people so if you were to ask “What's love?” I'd just direct you to Kaelyn and Lucy's Youtube channel. I guess they would be my best example of two people in love. Who are Kaelyn and Lucy? Just click here and you can read the post I wrote a few weeks ago.
- They uploaded their June 2013 video last week and I've been dragging my feet when it comes to watching it. You see I've been dreading this moment for a while. Watching the June 2013 video would have been like watching a horror film, for example Final Destination. Please bear with me, this analogy is actually quite good.(IMHO).
- No matter what happens in any Final Destination film you know that pretty much EVERYONE is going to die (oh and that Death has a twisted sense of humour); when you watch a K&L montage video you will end up a bit sad and maybe with the need to have a little bit of a cry.
- “Wait..you cry too Faiz?”; of course not! I was only talking about other people. A manly masculine bearded man such as myself maintains a stiff upper lip and does not cry. I may get teary-eyed..but that's not crying. It's a completely different thing. In fact I give permission to myself to allow moisture to build up slightly around my eyes. And then I jam the “tears” with the palms of my hands and force them back down my nasolacrimal ducts (a.k.a tear ducts) where they belong.
- And there was a very strong chance that I may end up having to allow myself to get teary-eyed. I already knew what to expect after reading other people's Tumblr posts. One fellow Tumblrer told me that she “died” after watching June 2013; figuratively of course, I'd hate to think of all the inadvertent cases of manslaughter caused by K&L. So I braced myself for the emotional iceberg that I was about to hit.
- This time I watched their video from start to finish and the 35 minutes passed by real quick. I don't want to spoil anything for you if you haven't watched it yet so here's a brief account of what I went through watching June 2013.
- Right at the start of the video it was pretty much non-stop smiling, with a little chuckle here and there. At around 26 minutes the smile isn't there and my stiff upper lip quivers a little. At 30 minutes I hit that bloody Iceberg (and boy does it hurt) and took a deep breath. I blame Kaelyn's beautiful words & Lucy's clever editing of Taylor Swifts “Come Back..Be Here”. And finally at 34 minutes my heart dropped and I may have gotten teary-eyed (damn you nasolacrimal ducts for betraying me!)
- At the end of the video I felt slightly empty and a touch melancholic. Luckily I had prepared a playlist of some of my favourite Youtubers to help me get over the current slump that I was in. They helped me get over the gloomy mood I was in.
- As a unlicensed humour therapist I would recommend the following people to help bring a smile to your face and lift your spirits; Jenna Marbles, Sam Pepper, Rose Ellen Dix, Kingsley, LAHWF, PistolShrimps, the Joe Rogan Experience and listening to Get Lucky by Daft Punk till your ears bleed (if your ears really do bleed you seriously need to see a real doctor).
- And don't let me put you off from watching June 2013. Keep in mind that if anything June 2013 is a celebration of love and happiness between two people. And I learned a few things from June 2013. Here's a short-list of what it takes to be happy:
- Love
- Sushi
- Chipotle and/or Taco Bell
- A cat and/or any other pet
- More Love
- Starbucks
- Taylor Swift
- Family and friends
- Being with someone who makes you feel safe and comfortable
- Did I mention LOVE?
- I don't mean to single them out as the “perfect” couple; in a world of 7 Billion people I'm sure you can come up with a few of your own. And Kaelyn and Lucy will be the first to tell you that they're far from perfect. I admire and remain in awe of them both because of the strength of their love and how hard they are willing to work to maintain the love they have for each other.
- On a side note one of my most favourite moments is not from one their montage videos. It's a vlog from a few years ago that Lucy uploaded about her trip to America and St. Kitts. It's a very brief moment but it's very touching; Lucy arrives in St. Kitts and this is the first time that she meets Kaelyn in person after spending the first year of their relationship online. They see each other and rush to embrace one another. #besthugever
- Watching their videos used to make me sad because it made me feel alone. But it also made me happy that here were two people that found each other and ended up falling madly in love. It gives me hope. And while it can still be a bitter-sweet experience to watch, their videos remind those of us who maybe haven't found love yet to keep the faith and trust that just maybe things will get better.
- And to those couples who are lucky enough to already have that love in their lives to appreciate what they have. One person on Tumblr said that watching Kaelyn and Lucy's videos reminded her to text her boyfriend and tell him that she loves him.
- More than anything Kaelyn and Lucy both help to remind us all something that we tend to forget because we're human and we get distracted by the little things in this world that love..actually is all around. Don't take my word for it. Check out June 2013 for yourself.
- I'm sorry this is so long. I can't help myself. I just want to thank Kaelyn and Lucy again for posting their videos and say THANK YOU for sticking with us; the people who follow you on Tumblr and Youtube.
- I had started this post out with a quote from a movie and I'd like to end with another from one of my favourite Youtube couples (here come those damn tears again).
- “But I love you very much; I hope you can see
- For you are my soul mate, my friend, and my lover
- I will be with you, always and forever”
- -Kaelyn to Lucy, June 2013
- Here are some links for you beautiful people to check out:
- June 2013
- America + St Kitts Vlog
- Proud to love
- A story about love
- My Ramblings Tumblr
