What is love?
Strange question? Not really, we love in so many different ways, and as tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I thought it would a good idea to explore this thought.
Love is a feeling, an emotion and one that seems to drive us, maybe more than any other emotion, except possibly greed! Other pronounced emotions are grief and anger, but when put in context love is the most effective. It affects everything….
This is an extract from Wikipedia on St. Valentine… or not. Reading the total entry is so mixed up, facts and fiction intertwined.
The Catholic Encyclopedia[9] and other hagiographical sources[20] speak of three Saints Valentine that appear in connection with February 14. One was a Roman priest, another the bishop of Interamna (modern Terni, Italy) both buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city. The third was said to be a saint who suffered on the same day with a number of companions in the Roman province of Africa, of whom nothing else is known. The Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church’s official list of recognized saints, for February 14 gives only one Saint Valentine: a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia.[23]
But whatever, this has become part of our annual calendar and we all have a great time sending love to our special person, if we have one, eating, and drinking to their health and in general, it’s a great excuse for some fun and joy in February, a dull and cold month.
Loving our significant other, again if we have one, is only one sort of love. We love our parents, our children, our friends and our pets. We love the beauty of the countryside or the vistas over the sea. We love the flowers, the first crocus, the sounds of birds the opportunities that spring will bring.
Most of all we love ourselves, if not, then we are missing out.
Self-love is not easy. It seems that we are showing ourselves privilege, overindulgence and somehow it feels wrong. It is of course quite right that we show ourselves consideration, that we take care of ourselves and make time to understand that love of self is as important as eating…if we have no ‘love of self’ how can we send love to others?
If you find this uncomfortable then try this:
Find a few moments when you can be alone and quiet.
Set a small table with a candle, a glass of water (or your favourite tipple) and a picture of yourself.
Look at the picture and let the flickering candle light it up, look into your eyes in the picture and see the love you have for others, now take a sip of whatever you have and give yourself that love.
Feel that love as you drink, it circulates from the mouth through the throat, into the stomach and all around the body…love moves. Love moves in waves, it permeates all parts, feel that wave of love. You are now giving yourself, inward, some of the love that you give out.
Feel it, so you can create this feeling again and again, when you need it most.
You need it most in the dark days, the sad days, those days of grief and sorrow, when nothing relieves the pain. Learning this will save you from pain yet to come, provide you with light in the darkness and guide you to a happy life.
You deserve all the love in the world…take it, give it…cheers!
Diane – with blessings and love