What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love
Just who can solve its mystery
Why should it make a fool of me?
That's why I ask the lord in heaven above
What is this thing called love?
Quick. Take a guess as to how many hits a Google search on love produces. Try 1.7 billion. That's a lot, and ten times more than the number of hits on hate. An Amazon search yields 2.4 million titles. I guess that answers Tina Turner's question, "What's love got to do with it?" and validates the Beatles' observation that "all you need is love." But it still leaves us with Cole Porter's lament, "What is this thing called love?"
One word. Four letters. 1.7 billion Internet references. The dictionary isn't very helpful, either, offering, "a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; and sexual passion or desire." At least the Greeks had three words for it: eros (sexual love), agape (love of God) and philos (love of family or things).
But we only have one. And what a word it is. In my last blog, I made the case for love being a verb. Showing action. I also have said it is the glue that holds civil society together and is the spark of the divine within us all. I have also shared that whatever the question love is the answer.
I used to be at war with myself as well as a stranger to self-love. But over the years, I have learned the real power of loving. Even so, I still watch and learn when unconditional love and acceptance gets clouded with demands, expectations, distorted thinking, judgments and blaming. Fortunately, I have a canary for my coalmine called chaotic eating. This little bird tells me when I am either in loving and acceptance or not. As soon as I see the warning, I work to take action and return to the loving so that I am again in alignment. When I do this, lo and behold, the chaos subsides.
For me, then, this thing called love begins inside, and as long as I keep the love light burning for me, I can openly express my love outside for others, whether is be eros, philos or agape. The opposite is also true. When I don't feel the love for myself, I find it more and more difficult to move into acceptance. My patience wears thin, my petty tyrant returns to press my buttons and even my parking fairy fails me when I go to Starbucks or Trader Joe's. Seriously though, I know from experience that if I take responsibility and care for my loving and share my loving with others, it has the potential to transform.
I would like to hear from you about what you think love is and how by applying it we can solve some of the difficulties we are facing both personally and as a nation right now.