Love Is Perfectly Imperfect

Briddge and Cherrie Orius are the first married couple to sit down for a Campfire Conversation. And you can hear it. They push back on each other, disagree, and keep going.

I met Briddge at the Returning Citizens Luncheon in Norfolk, Virginia last fall. We connected instantly over Ziggy Marley's "Love is My Religion." He recommended a book that helped shape my thinking. "Love" by Leo Buscaglia. I read it. It stirred up more questions than answers. I asked if he and Cherrie would join me at the fire.

This episode is also perfectly imperfect. About sixty minutes in, my phone ran out of storage. We lost fifty minutes of conversation. We regrouped, picked it back up, and what came out of it is something I couldn't have planned.

When I asked Briddge and Cherrie to define love, they came at it differently. Cherrie believes we're born with it. Briddge says the capacity has to be developed. They're both right. That tension runs through the whole conversation.

Cherrie offered a framing I haven't heard before. She compared love to an illness and feelings to symptoms. The feeling can change. Love itself doesn't.

They debated whether you can stop loving someone. Cherrie pushed back on Briddge in real time. They didn't resolve it. They just kept going. That's what love in practice looks like.

We also talked about what it means to lead with love when people are causing harm, how energy shapes everything around us, and why judgment crowds out love. Briddge said it plainly. There's no love when there's judgment.

Read the full piece on Substack.

Learn more about the adventure at www.heart-strong.org