“What’s love got to do with it, got to do with it? What’s love but a second-hand emotion?”
EVERYTHING.
While I think Tina Turner is da bomb, the song these lyrics come from is great, and that she is spot on in following these lines by essentially naming that love will, inevitably, break your heart—I’d like to point out: Love truly has everything to do with anything.
Just pause for a moment and think about our world. Consider the deep divisions, finger-pointing, and worse in American politics. Hold Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in your heart. Reflect on the war between Israel and Hamas, and the way it’s harming so many innocents. Contemplate how mass shootings in the U.S. have become so frequent, that we barely blink an eye anymore. Ponder how a very vocal segment of our population is treating the LGBTQ+ community—comprised of humans who are just as valuable and amazing as you, and anyone else. Think about the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, and its effects on people.
I could keep going, but I trust you get the point.
I bring this up to ask: What do we do?
And offer: Love.
Now, I fully recognize that in English, love is like butter. In that, it’s spread all over the place; because it can mean anything from a romantic commitment, to an appreciation of pizza, to a loyalty that one would give their life for, to a preference for the color blue, and beyond. So, when I say love is the answer, what I mean is:
Love is the giving of oneself for the flourishing of one and all.
With that in mind, I invite us to:
In the face of difference, choose love.
In the midst of hate, choose love.
When you “see,” or are the target of violence—whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, economic, or spiritual—choose love.
When the side you’re on points fingers at the other side, choose love.
When the other side shames you and your side, choose love.
If you’re inner-critic is barking at you, choose love.
If a person wrongs you, choose love.
If someone frustrates you, choose love.
Whatever your political stance is, choose love.
Whatever your economic status is, choose love.
Wherever you live or are, choose love.
When someone else says something hurtful, unkind, stupid, etc., choose love.
When you say something hurtful, unkind, stupid, etc., choose love.
On social media, choose love.
For yourself, choose love.
Hugs & Love,
Lang (aka “Dr. Love”)