On Love

Love: it’s what makes the world go round, it can fascinate and frustrate. A basic human need is for love, giving it and receiving it. While “love is all we need,” according to the Beatles, sharing this state of being and the actions that show it are not always the easiest. 

What is your relationship to this thing called Love?

Have you ever wanted so badly to be loved, accepted, connected yet could not get yourself to trust it when and how it came? Have you ever done just the opposite of what you hoped would bring you the love you so desired? Is your perspective on love simple or complex? When given the chance, do you choose love? 

Love is a choice, love is a commitment, love is a state of mind and an action. Love requires trusting uncertainty and giving without any guarantee of receiving back what you hope for. I have learned more about love recently, in ways that have baffled me and been life and health changing. What it comes down to is this: love can be created in every moment, whether you are alone or not. In order to receive we have got to give, which can be vulnerable and seem risky. What if love comes then it goes? Will the loss be too much to handle? Loving is worth it even when loss follows, which it will in this world that brings change all the time. Love defies odds, though, time and space too. 

Like the popular question begs, “what would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” - what would you choose if you knew you would be safe and loved? Keeping love at a distance usually comes when there is focus on the future, anxiety about losing later, uncertainty about being accepted… 

Coming back to this moment, right here right now, the choice is actually simple: Will you love? Will you look in the mirror and smile at who you see? Is offering the people you pass a smile and gesture of kindness possible? If now is what you have, how can you enhance your capacity to love and therefore live more fully? 

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