What is the True Meaning and Impact of Love: Is It an Emotion, a Choice, or Both?
A child's brain requires love to develop. Will our brain develop like that of animals in a forest without the love of a human? European tales of the noble savage, or children raised in nature, usually involve wolves. Did the wolves give the children love?
To become more Self aware in the month of Love and African American History, I'd like to explore the original meaning of the word February. Originating from "Februua" the Roman festival of purification when people were ritually washed by Februus.
Love does purify us. But, what is love?
Is it an emotion, a feeling? allowing others to be? accepting what is? surrendering to now? All of these thoughts, actually all thoughts can turn into love, even hate. Moreover, thoughts can be expressed with love as a verb, as a way of being, of giving, and receiving.
Love is all! Love is the essence of all that is and ever will be. It is the power of One, the magnanimous and unseen but manifested force of life that births in our heart and expresses our mind and conducts our actions. The more love awareness we put into what we do every minute of our life, the happier and more satisfied we will feel. It distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom and it is expressed linguistically in poetry.
Try it! Remember, TAT Productions is your writing coach, if you have verses, poems, songs, stories, or ideas, give them a chance to see their time. Take a chance on your story, your dream,, your message for life. Call us for a free discussion about your idea for a book about your life, your business, or your dreams).
"One manifestation of love is meditation, a life-changing experience that allows the flowering of real love within oneself and toward others." Osho
Why Love is the Key to Happiness and Success in Life
Exploring the True Meaning and Impact of Love in Our Lives can take many forms. Meditation, conversation, empathy, equanimity.... do we even give love a chance to make peace within and throughout the world? Artists are very close to love. Love is the form that is expressed through art. (music, film, painting, dance) And it starts with love.
But sometimes love is twisted, hurt, disabled, ignored, and even a total stranger. So, to be able to harness the power of love we must be able to communicate effectively, and we fail to do so. Instead we drive our war machines, create insult, push others around, and become self righteous. Trust in God should offer peace. Instead we put our trust on war.
Here’'s a book to help us be better communicator, self aware and compassionate, trustful and trustworthy, two things that politicians are not. Remember, they want to stay in power at all cost, even if they have to kill.
Communication takes many forms. I love media. It really enhances communication. It's such a wonderful experience to get the message in films and poetry. But just talking with our family members, our doctor, our partner and even our self can be obstructed by the ego, the undeveloped Self, the one who is angry, greedy, envious, careless and uncaring. If nations really sat down to find a solution for their problems instead of outsmart each other, kill the most people, or make the best deal, there would be more balance in the world. What would that do to the stock market? We need to keep that in mind. How is what we do on the battle field affect it? Are we feeding it with war?
Let's be real, we go to war, to work, to the doctor, to exercise, to the food market, for fear of losing what we most love in the world, our lives, our livelihood, our survival. Perhaps we should learn to talk about our problems as an individual, a nation, an organization with other individuals, nations, and organizations in a way that will allow Peace to reign. Lose your fear and find God.
If we can't do that, are we then just plain surviving and feeding the war machine to appropriate more resources? Is that the extent of love in our civilization? Is that the extent of religious fervor, or capitalism, of western civilization? It certainly isn’t Democratic or Empathic.
We think of love in February as a courtship between two and an infatuation deserving of a treat. Yet, is love not the essence of all existence, the motivation to succeed and accomplish, or is it fear? Can love be selfless? Can selfless love be used against us? Does Love have the Power to Create Peace in our lives and in our world?
We can purify our minds, body, and soul with love, a loving thought, love for what is, love the times we are meant to live. love the place we call our home, love the small things in everyday life, love our neighbor, love our Selves. We are part of the total environ of earth and the universe beyond our planet and solar system. We are love and love depends on us to manifest. Then why so much hate, so much bloodshed, persecutions, human trafficking, mass murders, genocide, greater and greater war machines?
Perhaps we don't hear this often enough! But do we really love or do we justify, do we live and let die, and do we offer the other cheek while we send out a bomb? What are we doing with humanity through the ages, and what is humanity waking up to? What is our future and that of the children of our children? What are we growing? What will be our harvest? Ask yourself that question when you think about love, because love is all that matters. One day you will be in someone's way to love if you live off their death.
Just look at the history of the world. The persecuted will be persecuting. It's the law of retribution. We receive what we give. Ricochet. Karma. Call it what you will. The mercy of God is eternal. But we first need to reach God. And God has rules for who goes to heaven and who to hell, as Dante said and Mather agreed.
We think of African American history also in Februus' month of purification. Let's talk, then, purification. How do we purify our body minds and soul? I think everyone knows the answer to that! With love! And love unites, pledges to each other the freedom to be.
In honor of the great wisdom
and love that has been passed down by the African diaspora since the world is world, rise the genius of souls whose linguistic and spiritual gifts have given testimony of love.
My favorites: Langston Hughes, a Renaissance poet, and Maya Angelou.
https://www.hancockhs.org/apps/video/watch.jsp?v=169542 - Enjoy Langston Hughes' reading of "A dream Deferred" in this video.
Let's not forget I will always be just a teacher, one with a limited source of knowledge or intellect who can't do, so they teach. always be the underdog, the overworked and underpaid, under appreciated, never taken into account when making decisions about their job even when no-one in that room has ever been a teacher, the understaffed, the one to blame, and the one who has to give account, do one hundred and eight things all at once all the time, and still create a record of each. In spite of this terrible karmic hindrance, I want to share the most significant reason for wanting knowledge:
The Power of Love for life and humanity
Not just our own kind's. Not just our own clan's. We are all one and all need to love one another and listen to each other instead of launching bombs. When and if we have learned the basics of a conversation, we will have mastered our demons, the beast in us will not continue to triumph. and we will then reach enlightenment and heaven on earth. Until then we will suffer. "If you now, me later," an eye for an eye, instead of turning the other cheek. Is love survival of the beast or will the beast let love reign?
On a personal level many of our artists in the modern world alone are proof of the power of choosing love instead of hate. Their word inspires. Here is one such poet who expands on love instead of hate.
When I started teaching elementary school in a rural southern setting reminiscent of plantation life, I discovered how love can change a person's heart and bring light to their existence. My fourth grade class was well diversified and everyone was having a good time, at least I hoped so. There were always flare ups of sensitivity or isolation. But there was one particular student, a girl whom we are going to call Love who became a challenge from the start.
Love was reluctant and uncooperative. At the beginning of the school year, she was last to walk into the classroom every day. It was clear that she did not want to be there. She was always casting her eyes down, pretending she was bored, smelled unclean, never combed, mismatched, and showing apathy for everyone and everything. She simply didn't care one way or another if someone didn't want to sit next to her because of her body odor, or whether she finished her words or not.
Your Brain on Love - The Power of Love is Limitless. Scientific American article:
She wrote and read on a first grade level. I, of course went home everyday concerned about how to turn her around, for no one should ever feel that way in any atmosphere. I felt bad just knowing how she felt. I asked the counselor to give my class a refresher course on hygiene and manners. We sent home soap, toothbrushes, combs, mirrors, and other self care goodies. The next day, Love came in just the same. When most of the kids were looking sharper than ever and getting noticed by the teacher (you got a sticker for the treasure chest). She was immutable, uncuttable.
As a matter of fact, she got worse, purposely. The kids noticed even more so that she was unclean and started to say ugly things to her and made no concealment of rejecting her presence. Now that the first days of school were over, they weren't on their "best behavior" trying to make a good impression and all their old bad and good habits showed up. And there were bullies among us. There always is a few. Every time you do a psychometric of a classroom you will find just about the same distribution, It is the golden mean. Most will fall within the middle, there will be some right wingers and left wingers. But most will fall within the average, even in a high performance or gifted classroom. The rest, well, they're among the geniuses, the unsung heroes, the unique. They may be out of the ordinary due to trauma, a differentiated learning styles, poverty, hunger, disease, ignorance, and prior learning influences.
What do I do? What do I do? Phone calls home went unanswered. I had to talk to her very simply and let her know that she had to improve her personal hygiene, so she could be accepted by her classmates. Very simple! But I couldn't make myself do it. I needed more time. Meanwhile, I had to do something. An idea came over m,e, and just as soon, I had her move her desk next to mine, in front of mine but to the side so I could see the rest of the class. She would then be the official teacher's assistant for the whole nine weeks ahead. Her privileges were to assist the teacher in anything needed, and I always had plenty to do. I brought in more air fresheners (which have since been banned from classrooms due to asthma and allergies, even brain damage has been attributed to plug-in air-fresheners). Good thing we soon didn't need them. Hooray for Love!
I am not really sure how long this strategy (which was just a time-buying device) took to work. But suddenly one day, Love was a whole different person. She came in clean and combed, she smelled good, and she laughed and participated in class. She was no longer the last one to walk into the classroom. It was a miracle! When the scores on the FCAT Writing Test came in, she scored a 2 and a 3. She was almost on level. Her reading was up there too, She had made a 150 percent growth in one year from one grade to the next in Language Arts. That was the first time I realized what the power of love can do.
There are many anecdotes to tell when you've been a teacher for a long time. There are many lessons learned when you teach. The power of love underlies each.
Give love a chance!
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Love ,
Angela
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