LOVE & Street Art

Photo of the Day. 02/09/11. "REALLY LOVE SOMETHING".

My friend gave me a street art documentary a few weeks ago and I've been obsessed ever since. I live in downtown Tacoma and there are a ton of abandoned warehouses and store fronts that are just dying for some art. I dont think I have the guts... or the time... or the money... to do something like that. Nonetheless, the desire is there.

Anyway, I was getting off I-705 at Schuster Parkway and there it was: REALLY LOVE SOMETHING. At first I just thought "oh, that's nice," and waited for the light to change. Then, I decided to get a photo and, of course, the light turns green... but I still got the shot.

Now, maybe I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill but I really appreciate this piece of street art. Street art isn't vandalism. It isn't tagging for the sake of tagging, either. Street art gets you to think, turns the average or ugly into something worth looking at. It gives an old, rotting wall (or in this case, hand rails) some meaning.

So, just to humor the artist who posted these signs I decided to think about this. It could have said "LOVE SOMETHING" or even "LOVE ANYTHING" but I like the fact that it says "REALLY LOVE SOMETHING." The use of "really" and "something" make all the difference. (Can you tell I'm an English major?) Really insinuates extra effort. "Something", as opposed to "anything", insinuates that the reader probably has an idea of what they should love harder. I immediately thought of my husband and my art. What do you think of? What do you need to "really" love and how do you plan to do it?