What is Love? This is a question asked by almost every person on this planet and from every time period in history, from the heart-broken lover to the forsaken man on his death bed. However, if you were to ask a child, you would get your answer. The child may not be able to articulate his or her belief with words, but you will understand love by the way they live. They know nothing else but love. They have yet to be "corrupted" by the vices of greed and self-indulgence that so often pollute the purity of love we are all born with.
Just like the child, I think that Love is Everything. Every action we make, every word we say, and every breath we take should be (ideally) inspired by love. Now please understand that when I say Love, I do not solely mean the type of Romantic love so prevalent in the mass media. Although that kind of love is very powerful (and although many of the greatest masterpieces were inspired by this love- take the Schumann Cello Concerto for instance-which by the way, I believe is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written), it is my feeling that this type of love is emphasized too much.
Yes, romantic love is powerful and it would be nice to have, but it becomes a problem when the euphoria from that love blinds us from the full extent of Love, I believe. There is so much more to love than that. Besides Romantic love, there is brotherly love, maternal love, love for a higher being (be it God, Allah, etc.), love for nature, a love for friends, a love for a passion, and the list goes on! All these types of love are simply part of a more encompassing love. The heavenly love that governs humanity. In this sense, I love everything! I guess when Jesus preached to "love your enemy" he really just meant to love that human being as a fellow human being undergoing a journey, just as you are. In this sense then, I love almost everything! (I still generally dislike very sweet milk chocolate, but that is another story)
Another interesting aspect of love that I have found, is it's nature of presenting itself during times you least expect it. New loves present themselves to you when you are in a state of complete contentment and when you are not seeking anymore love than you have and give. It's as if love says: "Hey Mikko! I see you are very, very happy right now, and you would be perfectly fine without me, but hey! Here I am to make you more happy and for you to experience more love!" It is funny and awesome how Love works that way. From this, we can also deduce that people who are not content with their lives, and who always want more, will never find love.
As I was biking the Santa Ana River Trail the other day, I found myself in a state of awe. I was biking at about 3-5 pm during the day, and the lighting of the sun was inexplicably beautiful (no wonder why photographers call this time of the day the "golden hours"). All the colors became so vivid: the green of the grass, the red in the sky, the browns of the trees. As I experienced this beauty, I literally said these words aloud: "Life is about doing what you love, and finding beauty in the world." You may accuse me of being an idealist, and I have no qualm with that. In this period of our planet's history, when the world as we now it may change drastically in the near future, I think we all must be idealists and live life to the fullest, the way we were meant to live it!
As I think about what I said that bike ride, I continue to find more reasons to believe it. I think we are here to find beauty or what enriches and nourishes our souls. We live to becomes shining lights of love for the world, for others to be inspired to love as well. Simply put: "If you Love the World, the World will Love you back."
Mikko, you have articulated this so well. I would love to see this essay professionally published. It is easy to forget to live like this--your work was a good reminder.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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