[Love is] the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth...Love is as love does. Love is an act of will--namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.hooks goes on to poo-poo those who cite affection as being the primary component of love. hooks includes "care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication" as all being integral components of love.
Monday, April 23, 2018
All About Love: Page Two
bell hooks is a woman after my own heart. Right away in her book, All About Love: New Visions, she starts off with definitions. Having a shared vocabulary is very important, so I am glad to see her starting with this first thing. She quotes M. Scott Peck from The Road Less Traveled:
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I think it takes a brave soul to love this way. When one loves the way described here, you leave yourself open to potential hurt. Especially the honest and open communication part. One must really let all the guards down if we are going to truly be honest and open. But really that is the best way do love, giving all of oneself, making ourselves open to the potential rejection and hurt. The goal of love? I don't think it can be to get what we want from the other person... A person must already be secure, or be finding their security (in their Creator) and then be free to love. Because love is something given, something offered, something sacrificed (myself, my wants, maybe even my needs, and rights), for the chance to do good to the one we love. I say chance because it may very well not be received, or welcomed. But one can still love, expressing and carrying out actions for the benefit of the one we love.
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