What is This Thing Called Love?
Now that Valentines (which is incidentally a pagan fertility festival dedicated to Faunus the Roman god of agriculture) is out of the way; single people can stop being reminded about how single they are; and the red hearts and roses take a back seat. I question what is this thing called love? This four-little letter word, that so many artists sing about, poets lament about, authors write about and people cry or smile about? The Collins English Dictionary, describes it amongst other definitions to mean, – “to have great attachment to and affection for. Intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness and regard towards a person or thing”. For some reason, none of these definitions resonates with me, and neither do the red hearts, chocolates or roses! As I sit and meditate on the word, I find myself drifting and turning inward to myself. My inner- self, my inner child. Thoughts travel, and a memory comes to the forefront, of when I was a teenager sitting in our kitchen and happily sprinkling copious amounts of salt on my food, and pouring too much sugar in my tea. My father would ask me what am I doing? And then begin to give me, what I felt was a lecture, about the harmful effects that these two commodities have on the body. In my defiance, I poured a little more, in response to my defiance he would say, “it’s because you don’t love yourself “. When an announcement was made on the news that a sports person had died; cause of death, copious amounts of drugs or alcohol. My father’s response would be: – “it’s because they don’t love themselves”. This was a saying amongst others, I recall my father used, but I never really understood what he meant until I was older. To love yourself first, is a must, and that love of self is not to be confused or replaced with being selfish. If we do not value and cherish ourselves first, it can affect others in so many ways. What`s more, how can we expect another, or others, to respect or even love us if we do not love ourselves? My definition.
The moon on the 14.2.2017, incidentally was in the sign of Libra this year. Libra in astrology is about partnerships on all levels, harmony, and equilibrium amongst other things. Libra is ruled by the planet Venus. Venus represents value, beauty, art, and love to name a few. A beautiful soul who has now passed over, once said to me that we should stand in the mirror naked, and tell ourselves that we love ourselves. I cringed at the thought of doing this, as it can be a challenging thing to do in a world that is already full of narcissism and implants. But as I reflect on her words, my father’s words, I realise they were both making valid points. And as for the moon`s alignment on that day, for this year, I question, was universe giving us a nudge, reminding us to love ourselves more? Now that I am a little wiser, I have grown to understand that being alone, is and can be a beautiful thing, if we allow ourselves to feel it; break the mould and work with it; and spend quality time in the space of it, to have a relationship with just ourselves. Treat ourselves, look after ourselves, look in the mirror and make love to ourselves, and dance in the light of the moon.
Tina Turner sings – “what’s love got to do with it?” My response – everything. Whitney Houston sang “learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all”. So, the next time valentines come around, or the next time you might be feeling a little lonely, contrary to what the dictionary may say, what religion may say and the media portrays-treat yourself first, and then others!
Floindigo
Just thinking about love and its various connotations…