Love carries many different meanings in different scenarios and for different people. It can be so complex, but it can be so simple.
In an effort to articulate thoughts on the big topic of love, I would say the core of love embodies ultimate happiness, acceptance, freedom, joy, peace, and well-being which can be felt, seen, received, and given. From books, videos, music, and quotes, to more, I’m sharing some of my favorite content about love on this page. <3
Love has many definitions, some of which include, “an intense feeling of deep affection, a great interest and pleasure in something, and to like or enjoy very much.” This video explores greek words for love such as agape (brotherly love, charity, altruism), eros (physical and intimate love), philia (affectionate regard and friendship), storge (familial love), philautía (self-love), and xenia (hospitality).
Merriam-Webster defines self-love as “an appreciation of one’s own worth or virtue.” The journey to embracing self-love for myself has meant and continues to involve letting go of anyone else’s opinion of me, letting of my own self-critical thoughts, and more. Self-love means loving all of who and what I am. If you are interested in the idea of a completely loving world, loving others, and loving all that is, then self-love is simply another aspect of loving everything. We can love who and what we are without definitions.
What are You? What am I?
Does understanding ourselves make self-love easier? If so, what are we? Depending on the scientist we speak to – they may give us this scientific definition of a human, “human being, a culture-bearing primate classified in the genus Homo, especially the speciesH. sapiens,” from Britannica or another scientific explanation. Mystics or religious leaders may provide other answers. “What are we?” seems to be an unsettled question. Therefore, one aspect of achieving self-love (or love for anything) may be not needing to have solid definitions of the science or the why or how regarding ourselves (or others or life). We can love that we exist and that we get to make decisions every moment about how we experience life.
A picture of a utopian perfect world is a world of complete love – a world where each soul loves each other. But if each soul does not first love themselves, the how can we love others? This is similar to the idea that if we are not first fed in order to sustain our own healthy existence – how will we feed others? If we are not fed, in fact, we are likelier to need the love and help of others rather than giving from a place of abundance.
How do We Practice Self-Love?
We could become more mindful to take action on it via kind thoughts to ourselves, kind words to or written about ourselves, kind words about ourselves spoken to others, self-portraits, spending time appreciating ourselves in the mirror, and generally loving ourselves just as much and in the same way we hope to love all things.
Another aspect of self- love might involve self-care. Some helpful forms of self-care might be prayer, quiet time, books, music, movies, conversations all approached with the intention of love and growth.
Above all, perhaps the best way to “love ourselves” is to mentally embrace simply that we exist at all and be free of self-image and free of people’s opinions.
