What is love?

The question of the day.......What is Love?.....

I posted this question on my facebook page and it seems the question has ruffled a few feathers.  The reaction I've gotten to the question has been very interesting.   My favorite reaction is "What kind of question is that?!"  It was just a question.   I'm curious.  Curious about what people are thinking.

My pal, Jon, reminds me often that not everyone things like I do. (  Although I can't imagine why not)   I know what love means to me and I wanted to know what it means to other people.  In yoga-land they're always talk about love.  No matter what the question, no matter what the situation, no matter the problem the answer given is always LOVE.  BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

Those of you who know me personally know that I'm not the mushy type.  Does that mean I'm not loving?  Those of you who know me personally know that I would move mountains for you. That's what love is.  Doing whatever is needed to care for those I love,  even when I want to smack them.

I have found that the word "love" is too limiting.  There should be way more ways to describe love. For instance.... I love cupcakes and cosmopolitans and I love my children do not adequately describe my feelings.   Can you even describe feelings? 

I'm rarely at a lose for words but there aren't words powerful enough to adequately describe what love is. 

Some of my facebook friends shared their thoughts:

*  "Love is the willingness to recognize that which is real" ~ Erich Schiffman

*  It is now.

*  Open armed surrender to the process

*  "love is EVERYTHING"

*  unconditional selflessness.

*  Divinity devouring/nourishing/sacrificing itself for and in and by itself...
*  Love can not be emphatically defined. It changes its shape all of the time. Once it is labeled it diminishes its existence. Love is the unique perception of an individual that regards an experience as being wonderful beyond words.
*   Love is caring for someone with all your heart in good and bad

All wonderful comments but I must agree with this one:  "Love can not be emphatically defined. It changes its shape all of the time. Once it is labeled it diminishes its existence."

I can tell you that when I love.... I love with all my heart.... I love you means I would die for you.   Love means that I will go to hell and back to take care of you.  Love means that I accept you for you, the good, the bad, and ugly.  But that also means that I love you enough to call you out when you are not living up to your own Divinity...... 

Love is helping others find their way back to God.  Even if that means they don't like us much in the process.... 

The paper mache heart

The story goes something like this......


There once was a girl who thought her heart was made of paper mache. She thought this because she could feel in her heart even the slightest shift in energy. Her heart was constantly being tossed around, torn and tattered. She did her best to protect it from the storms but her efforts only lead to the paper mache being damage from her own tears.

One day, she was sitting on the porch listening to the giggles of the children playing. The good thing about having a paper mache heart is that it's also effected by the slightest bit joy, like the sweet giggles of little ones at play. That's when she noticed the gentle breeze making beautiful music as it blew through the wind chimes.

The girl then decided that maybe it would be better to think of her heart as a wind chime instead of paper mache. Like a paper mache heart, the nature of the wind chime is to be effected by even the slighted movement. Only that the wind chime uses the shifts to create music where the paper mache is torn apart by the shifts.

"Like two golden birds perched on the selfsame tree, Intimates friends, the ego and the Self dwell in the same body. The former eats the sweet and sour fruits of the tree of life while the latter looks on in detachment." ~ Mundaka Upanishad