What Is Love?

In that strange time just before waking up this morning, Valentine’s Day, I had the thought that LOVE is so vast and so immense it is impossible to define except in glimpses, whispers, and special interactions.

There are so many articles about love published around this time of year, and clearly love is so much more than Hallmark’s happy endings. In fact, it is often hard and gritty and painful. My friend Cindy LaFavre Yorks addressed this in her recent post called “Razor-Edged, Sacrificial, ‘True’ Love.” 

But today, in that early morning reverie, the question “What is Love?” was what floated into my consciousness, and as soon as the question was clear, my mind began to supply a few answers. But just as quickly, I found myself realizing no one person—at least no earthly person—can grasp the meaning of love. That’s when the idea of a collaborative creation to explore the meaning came to me. 

To get the project started, I’ll start with a few words that have come to mind. Love is kindness, patience, shared happiness, shared sorrows, putting another before self, sacrifice, compromise. Love can be feelings of tenderness and passion, loneliness when apart, fulfillment when together. 

What is love for you?

Please share in the comments below and I will create a word cloud (See below for an early version) that reflects the responses I get over the next two weeks. I can’t wait to add your words to this collaborative creation..and your name to the list of contributors. 

Now, if there is someone still living—or several someones—who come to mind when you think of Love-inspired meanings, I hope you’ll consider writing them a heartspoken note or making a heartspoken phone call.

That would be a wonderful way to express your love. 

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