Video by Parisa Radpey, a.k.a “People Life Politics And Bullshit.” Commentary by Troy Headrick
What is Love?
“What is love? ” Answering the first question Parisa asks in her video is turning out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. The first thing that came to mind is that “love” is a concept. It’s not like “cat.” I get a clear image in my mind when I use the latter word. The color and size of the cat is unimportant, but I can see an animal that is shaped in a certain way and has definite physical characteristics. I don’t see such an image when I use words like “love” or “happiness.”
That means “love” doesn’t exist as a physical entity. It is not “out there,” in the external world. It exists in me which means I get to decide what it is. Often, when I’m experiencing love, when I’m feeling it—we feel love, don’t we?—it’s in relation to some other person. If I feel love towards another, this means I want to spend time with that person. I want to be with him or her, in the deepest sense of what it means to be “with” someone. I want to know all about him or her. I want to know the other’s past, present, and future. Often, when I’m with a person I love, I feel happiness. I guess that explains why I keep wanting to pair those terms. The first seems to cause the second.
How Do I Express Love?
I think showing love is about sharing myself with another person. (I suppose I can love a thing. I’m not certain about the possibility of loving a thing in the same way I can love another human. I need to spend more time thinking about this.) I can certainly share myself with another person. Sharing is opening myself up to that person. (Opening myself up means I am making myself somewhat transparent and vulnerable.) Sharing myself means turning myself towards that person in the way a flower keeps turning towards the sun throughout the day. Love feeds me, but I can’t simply “consume” the person whom I love. Love feeds me and makes me want to “feed” the person I love. Love is the profoundest form of giving. Unrequited love causes the deepest sort of pain.
And what about you? When you hear the word love, what do you think of?
This is a very profound post, and yet open for all, because we each are capable of love, from exactly where we are.
In relationships we often think that love is enough to make the relationshipwork, but sometimes it isn’t if there is a lot of raw, unhealed emotions. Those get in the way of love continuing to grow and to flourish, for those unhealed areas can manifest in negative actions and words which slowly destroy the love and trust.
Sometimes the unhealed areas are thwarted by a person’s lack of self love or worth, and that becomes the root for acidic comebacks and interactions.
For love to flourish between 2 people in a healthy way, each person needs to work on their past baggage and to be able to develop healthy self love, or they will seek for the other person to fill up inside of them what they need to do for themselves.
Love is then a starting point, becomes a building block and the glue. It needs to grow and to be nurtured carefully. Love can be both delicate and strong at the same time. Love can be simple, we expect it to be simple and effortless, yet for the above reasons, it can be incredibly complex and require a lot of inner and outer work.
You put it into words so well; I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Perhaps it is not entirely without reason that so many books have been written or films made about love. But ultimately, it’s about this dance that you so nicely pointed out in your answer. “love is starting point…” and also that part where you wrote, “For love to flourish between…”
And for sure, our hurt parts can pop up often in interaction with those we love most.
And if there is a lack of communication around those wounds , it can create a lot of damage in a relationship.
Thank you for your answer. I enjoyed every word of it.
Love is an illusion, a word conjured by the imaginative mind to explain the intersection of animalistic instincts of procreation(lust) with higher divine ideals such as spiritual connection.
Thank you for your comment. That makes me curious, why do you think love is an illusion?
Personally, if I had not experienced love in its many different layers, forms and colours, especially in the role of a mother (the unconditional love she feels for her child) I might have agreed that love is an illusion.
And, we being separate from the source, as the form we are in ( the I) can create that feeling of illusion. I resonate with what Leonard Cohen said: «It is in love that we are made, in love, we disappear.»
Thanks, by the way for sharing your thoughts on the topic.
Did mum love you.
What can we define maternal instincts?
In the context of love.
Could you give me your email? Will give my thoughts in more detail
I would for sure say in her way, yes she did love me. But her way of expressing it is not the way I would show my love.
But I think as humans we all can evolve. Even how we express our love? Or the role of a mother
You can find me on Instagram, and we can continue there, ok? @parisa_radpey
I enjoyed the video as well as Troy’s commentary- but my favorite part was the guy making music on the bike- amazing! 🤩
Thank you Todd, and yes he is an amazing multi-artist. He is on Instagram if you want to see more of his musical work.
Forenkle.no Ove-Kenneth Nilsen
Cool- thanks!😎
Excellent video and reflections. I waited before commenting to see if something would come to my mind regarding a personal meaning of love. Love is wanting all the good for the other person(s) but also for animals, trees, flowers, all what lives. When I love I want and wish the best for the other beings, but also their freedom even this would mean that they leave me.
Ohhh thank you 🌺🍀🙏 it is not always easy to define these deep questions. And you are touching on oneness, yes, the deep meaning of love. We are all connected.
And thank you for your feedback earlier🎈🌺
Wonderful reflections on love. It’s hard to determine what love is exactly. I used to believe it was a feeling but I believe it’s much more than that. I tend to think of it as an act more than anything. Love is an action not a feeling. Even that is too simplistic an answer. Thought provoking post 🙏
“Love is an action, not a feeling. “
Thank you for taking me on a new perspective path by sharing it.
This sort of thing is happening in many places in the world. It’s being fomented by ugly, dark, hateful forces. We have to stand up to such darkness.
Thank you for sharing this Troy, but how do we do that? How do we stand up to such darkness?
I have ended up doing the changes I can create by doing good deeds when I can and not watching the news (even though I always Get the big Lines with me) because it has such a destructive effect on my view of humanity.
And it is called news.
It is nothing new about us humans being terrible to each other, judging each other, killing each other … so on, what is new about it? And it is called news, to me that is the old garbage of human behaviour.
And so sad that it still happens, like the link you shared.
Love takes so many different forms, it is hard for me to pin down. People give and receive love so differently, that if you don’t recognize the love language they are speaking it can cause a rift between you. 💞
Oh yes, I realy like your approach to it. It is so true. We all have different love languages, but as you point it, it is about giving and receiving. Thank you for this comment, Dawn.
When I hear the word love I definitely think of giving. Giving time and energy to others, and being present in all those moments. Sharing in wherever someone else is, physically, spiritually, and emotionally, at a given time. And letting people into wherever where are, physically, spiritually, and emotionally, at a given time.
Love is, as you say, turning towards others like a flower turns towards the sun throughout the day.
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.
Beautifully written
🙏Thank you very much🌺