Let's talk about Love.
So this is gonna be a little different but I'm going to start with an excerpt from book I'm reading called Journey of the Heart: The Path of Conscious Love by John Welwood. Pretty old book but it's got some interesting takes on "Love," and it's inspired me to really look into what that means.
Though this text is a bit outdated with millennial culture, I think this has some pretty interesting things I'd like to expand on in words that are easier read. To break it down this quote discusses how love carries two purposes: Expanding our perspective on others and learning a thing or two about ourselves along the way. These purposes are intertwined and serve under the word "love," as our connection to the universe.
I started reading this book towards the middle of summer when I was inspired by a bright soul who questioned my ideas of love. Unlike conservative and more traditional ideas of love, I was casual. You know dating but not really dating because "I'm not really looking for a relationship." The kinda dating that most of us do nowadays so that we don't have to feel anyway we don't want to. Yeah, that. I was completely unaware of the hypocrisy of my actions with my fantasy of love. When I started reading this book, I was hoping it would open my eyes to something I was "missing," as to why I couldn't find love. LOL. Instead this book taught me that our ideas of love are close-minded and the idea of loving all beings is an essential part of coming to self. We need to look at love as an opportunity to learn how to live among others and physically feel connected but we also need to learn more about ourselves through it. I'm gonna give you an example of a love situation. Let's say you and john/jane doe are casually seeing each other. Ya know just kicking it. Then all of a sudden they do something that really p's you off. You guys fight and at the end of the fight you guys walk away and let the steam blow off before you two return to "normal." You never really address the problem or you just forget it ever happened. However by not addressing the issue directly, this problem may reoccur and you and john/jane continue to argue about it. Well let's say instead of walking away and forgetting it, you walk away and reflect on it instead. Address your feelings towards the situation first "I'm mad," and then allow your mind to dig to the deeper meaning behind the anger. Why are you mad? What's the deep issue you have? Through acknowledging your emotions and questioning why you have them allows you to think about what causes you to feel. This can help you understand what makes you tick and/or what really makes you happy. When you reflect on your interactions with others, you'll learn how you react and control your emotions in a healthy way. It's also good to communicate these reflections with the other person so that they have the opportunity to reflect as well but addressing this on your own alone will open your mind to growth. Love is not about the finding or the settling, it's about the journey to connection and self. You can understand your connection to others and to your self through contemplation on emotion. Love is anger, happiness, sadness, surprise and fear, but when you look a little deeper.. Love is connection.
Love is love. Whatever that means to you. But you shouldn't miss an opportunity for growth through attachment. We all have it at some point and whether we want it or not here are the things we can take away from it:
LOL who remembers when Bo Burnham sang about what love is? #tbt
I typed "love" into my tumblr search bar and these are some of the images that came up
"Threading its way along the boundary between our larger being and karmic patterns, joining heaven and earth, the path of love has both a personal and sacred side. On the personal level, intimate relationship calls on us to expand our capacities and develop greater wholeness as individuals. Beyond that, the love between man and woman also presents a sacred challenge: to go beyond the single-minded pursuit of purely personal gratifications and tap into the larger energies of life as a whole. When love becomes a vehicle for tuning in to the great mysteries of creation all around us, it provides a deeper sense of purpose and direction. The personal and the sacred are two overlapping sides of one and the same path."
- John Welwood
Though this text is a bit outdated with millennial culture, I think this has some pretty interesting things I'd like to expand on in words that are easier read. To break it down this quote discusses how love carries two purposes: Expanding our perspective on others and learning a thing or two about ourselves along the way. These purposes are intertwined and serve under the word "love," as our connection to the universe.
I started reading this book towards the middle of summer when I was inspired by a bright soul who questioned my ideas of love. Unlike conservative and more traditional ideas of love, I was casual. You know dating but not really dating because "I'm not really looking for a relationship." The kinda dating that most of us do nowadays so that we don't have to feel anyway we don't want to. Yeah, that. I was completely unaware of the hypocrisy of my actions with my fantasy of love. When I started reading this book, I was hoping it would open my eyes to something I was "missing," as to why I couldn't find love. LOL. Instead this book taught me that our ideas of love are close-minded and the idea of loving all beings is an essential part of coming to self. We need to look at love as an opportunity to learn how to live among others and physically feel connected but we also need to learn more about ourselves through it. I'm gonna give you an example of a love situation. Let's say you and john/jane doe are casually seeing each other. Ya know just kicking it. Then all of a sudden they do something that really p's you off. You guys fight and at the end of the fight you guys walk away and let the steam blow off before you two return to "normal." You never really address the problem or you just forget it ever happened. However by not addressing the issue directly, this problem may reoccur and you and john/jane continue to argue about it. Well let's say instead of walking away and forgetting it, you walk away and reflect on it instead. Address your feelings towards the situation first "I'm mad," and then allow your mind to dig to the deeper meaning behind the anger. Why are you mad? What's the deep issue you have? Through acknowledging your emotions and questioning why you have them allows you to think about what causes you to feel. This can help you understand what makes you tick and/or what really makes you happy. When you reflect on your interactions with others, you'll learn how you react and control your emotions in a healthy way. It's also good to communicate these reflections with the other person so that they have the opportunity to reflect as well but addressing this on your own alone will open your mind to growth. Love is not about the finding or the settling, it's about the journey to connection and self. You can understand your connection to others and to your self through contemplation on emotion. Love is anger, happiness, sadness, surprise and fear, but when you look a little deeper.. Love is connection.
Love is love. Whatever that means to you. But you shouldn't miss an opportunity for growth through attachment. We all have it at some point and whether we want it or not here are the things we can take away from it:
- Love means connecting to the universe. It means connecting to others living in the same time and place we are that are looking for purpose just like we are.
- Reflection on emotions that comes with love, good or bad, will help us understand and move closer to our higher self.
- Love is free. You can give it. You can take it. But the most important part is that we learn from it either way.
Peace and Love,
Jaz
LOL who remembers when Bo Burnham sang about what love is? #tbt
🖤
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