What is Love?

Love is such a spiritual topic. It most certainly applies to Valentine’s Day. How about if we narrow the topic in honor of this day to romantic love to begin? I was thinking about how I’d describe it to a young person these days.

Last night, I had the monthly opportunity to participate in Open Hearts, Open Mics. It’s currently held on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube the first Friday of each month. I’m often the local story teller. Last night I told the true story of an antique birdhouse on an oak tripod that I had placed outside my window. It was natural and lovely. The problem was, it had a very small hole in it. I’d had many birds try to fit into it until one year, a Warbler happily made called it home. It spent weeks making and fluffing its nest. Multiple times a day, it would sit on the perch and sing its glory. It is the tiniest of birds. Its beauty and volume of song is miraculous. It was calling for a mate. It turns out Warblers are very rare in cities. It so loved its home. It so wanted a partner, but that did not occur outside my window. It taught me that even the littlest of birds can face loneliness too.  This beautiful little bird finally flew off knowing that it had to hunt for love elsewhere.

Is this one of the ways we should prepare our teenagers about romantic love? It is joy, it is happiness. It’s also disappointment and loneliness. It is seeking and sometimes finding. It is forgiveness, patience, kindness, gratitude, trust, responsibility, consideration, healing, acceptance, division, instability, stability, hope, companionship, anger, fulfillment, completion, and or peace at any given time. Should we prepare them for the negatives emotions that come when love is involved. Why is love so important? It may be the best of times. It may be the worst of times. It can always be a most significant teacher. Spiritually, it has its purpose. It is a wonderful way to grow.

What is love? It certainly is a basic instinct and an overwhelming need. I personally see Divine love as only the positive aspects and emotions. I have experienced a multitude of emotions with romantic love including the negative feelings that come with mature earth based love. Can we embrace love’s challenges and see it as opportunity. What if we are here to learn how to refine our ability to love? How can we show love even when we are angry? How can we aspire to spiritual love, to the kind of love that encompasses everyone with compassion and kindness? Can we love those whom we have trouble liking? Can we treat each other as a spark of the Divine even when our differences are great? Can we embody love and be it?

Thank you for viewing my musings. You are invited to share your musings on love also.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Linda