love recipe (a winter love study hall)
Until recently, when I thought of love, which was rare, I generally took love to be a feeling. A feeling inside us, inside them for us, or as a thing passed between us —that someone gives you (or takes away from you, or that you might never feel again).
I didn’t think about how I loved, just who I loved, and that I loved them.
What if, as M. Scott Peck explains, in The Road Less Traveled, love is a practice of being, not a challenge of getting and keeping. What if —
“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.” (p.83)
And if it is a practice, then you can become better at it, you can explore variations of it, you can learn about and expand your experience of it.
In ALL ABOUT LOVE, bell hooks, posits that “To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients—care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.” (p.5)
What do you think? Is this the recipe of love?
Can love exist between us in some other configuration?
Hope to see you at this week’s winter love study hall.
Fri, 11-Feb from 5:30-6:15pm EST.
Register here to attend.
