I have only questions...
A question on my mind recently is:
“Why does hate spread so much more easily than love?”
In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin says:
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
Love also costs us something — it demands vulnerability, it is heavy with expectation, it insists we let others in. Past the wall we build up as we experience childhood or adult trauma, disappointment, heartbreak. That wall is a source of comfort, because inside of it we can be in control. Outside of it, especially in our transactional world, we want to know we will be loved as we love. And there’s never a guarantee of that.
Rupi Kaur reminds us of the healing that leads us to the hardest and most fundamental love of all, self-love.
I often feel I am in the early stages of that process, healing toward self-love. But I know I also love big, and wholly, and often have to pick up the pieces of a heart broken by a friend, colleague, family member or lover. And my heart is bigger and stronger for every experience of loving and being loved. Try it.
In honor of the Bob Marley film being released today, I leave you with this and please revisit Love Languages, Immigrant Style post from last year.
With love,
Sayu