For this last part, I’m going to allow myself to go wherever my total understanding of love falls under, and within the greater, universal suggestion of love. Adding a few extra bits of conclusions of the previous parts as well. You can catch Part 1 and Part 2 here, to see what I’ve previously stated on this multifaceted and complex notion.
Most of the times when I sit back and ponder on the greater meanings of love, I fear I become more perplexed, unable to adequately explain to myself what it is I should think and feel about it. Is love, one singular feeling? Is love what we call everything we feel around one person? Does love really exist, or did we just make it up to justify our unnatural obsession over someone?
Is it normal, really, to love?
If we should tend naturally to be alone, and that is when we are whole, in the essence of unifying our own existence with all around, is someone else actually a parasite to our union with everything?
Or are they an extension of our self-love, the love for the world around us, and eventually a love for them, that all speak on the same frequency-level? Such as in music, if one note fails to fall “acoustically” (this depends on someone’s perception of musical taste) pleasing, then it is not a harmony, it is not complete. Something is missing.
Arthur Leipzig, “Subway Lovers”, 1949
Our untimely affections can either fit perfectly for us in that moment we’ve met someone, or it could mean we’re meant to be with them in some other time of our life.
If the love we are able to give and receive is like a big puzzle, there are so many pieces, yet all will fall into place, at the right time, and the puzzle will be complete eventually. There may be someone, who will have all the missing pieces, or someone who will just give you one, and their importance doesn’t define the end result. If we are full of love, embracing it, nothing can go wrong. Not for us, and not for anyone else.
We should, therefore, be able to love, without having the need for someone to love us back. Because if love is so selfless, then it only matters if we feel it. We should be content knowing the other person is content, even without us.
When it comes to heart-break, I don’t really think we ever stop loving someone, if we have truly loved them, beyond ourself. Totally selflessly. Even if they betrayed us, or we betrayed them. Separation, is the last stage of physical love, but love as a connection, may just hang along for a lifetime. And isn’t that extremely precious?
A form of love ending, only makes room for the next love to come. Every ending, entitles a new beginning, and we must never forget that. Of course, pain resides for a while, and all hope of another romantic encounter shrinks, but if we allow ourselves to look deeper into ourselves, understanding the kind of love we deserve and are worthy of, then we are more than just capable of finding a new love. We are in fact capable, of loving even more than before.
If the world were to measure love, then it would certainly outweigh the hate in it. Love doesn’t simply multiply, it expands further and further exponentially every day. It’s an enlarging event within our psyche, whereas hate can only minimise ourselves, to a lower, shallow and unforgiving miserableness.
In today’s world of supposed “elevated” consciousness, there is a growing divide of the people. Or so, they want us to believe that. They actually try their best to divide us. Geopolitical wars fuel racism and feed us propaganda to give into hatred. If they would have wanted the world to unite and learn to love, there would be no capitalistic profit. The current state of our planet, is in a slow demise, and can only be pushed to a freedom of being and coexisting amongst each other, through love. While this may sound like a ‘fantasy’ of a romantic point of view, really, could it ever be so simple, to just love a stranger, for the sake of accepting humanity, that we are all carriers of the same flesh and blood?
Yet, the people are not at fault. Governments are designed to lead domination as a glorifying virtue, rather than leading with a mindset for the people to benefit from each other, and live in peace. War capitalises death and destruction. What do every day normal people get from this? A second-hand afterthought of some politically motivated goon, who claims to assist you to gain money and power? When really, they treat you like a rabbit, meaning that you believe you are chasing the carrot, but you are sadly only chasing the stick. And the stick, will one day be used to whack you with it.
It is much easier to promote hate, rather than to advocate for love. It requires the most brave soldier to stop in the middle of a war, to look the “enemy” in the eye, and say, “No, I cannot harm you, as we are the same”. This, is the “ultimate soldier” of humanity. The one who resists, the one who does not conform to political beliefs and does not commit war crimes, simply because they were ordered to. And in this, we often understand that the true compassionate nature of being human, is only succeeded without ego, and without the need of “belonging” to a race or religion ex., but only living to strive for uniting us all.
And really, only selfless love can do that. As a practice, as a religion, as the one true belief.
Athina writes about love and self-love on sheets of coloured paper. She then tears the sheets into tiny pieces and throws them up into the air like colourful confetti. She encourages her readers to pick up the pieces, read the words, and decide what love is for themselves.