Love in Five Senses

Love, February & Stereotypes

The month of February is often viewed as the month of love. We in the so-called "Western World", as well as many other cultures today, celebrate Saint Valentine's Day on the 14th of the month every year.

"What does love mean to you?"

This question was posed in a community called "Ko-Fi"; the server is filled with talented artists and writers of all kinds. Naturally, there were a variety of artistic pieces showing two people expressing love by holding hands, embracing and the like. Much of the art also features hues and tones of pink and red. Out in the real world, we can see the pervasive commercialisation of this celebration as well... which in my neck of the woods starts in early January. (That's a whole other can of worms we'll not be opening today!) Stores are flooded with chocolate, stuffed animals, and heart-shaped things. And, of course, the colours red and pink abound.

Diggin Deeper.

For some reason, this year, the question struck me as... different. What does love actually mean to me? In other words...

What do I associate with love?

What's the difference between love and other similar feelings?

How do I define love?

How is the meaning of love a personal thing?

Musing upon these questions and how to answer them in a way that is neither sappy nor generic proved to be more of a dilemma than I initially thought. Yes, I do subscribe to the visual appeal and comforting feelings commonly displayed or described as love: the colours, the actions, the products. Finally, though, I came up with my own interpretation of love.

Here's my take: Love in All Five Senses.

To me, love is an experience, not just an emotion. For the sake of this piece, I will arbitrarily (i.e. this is neither taken from a philosophical treatise nor a dictionary) define an emotion as an internal, hormonal reaction to an external trigger. Love, in contrast, is something that must be embodied. It can be a past or present experience; it can be felt through evoking a memory or in something happening in the here and now. The point is that, in my opinion, you must experience love. That can be achieved in a variety of ways... which is why I settled on LOVE IN ALL FIVE SENSES.

The above is a short video I created to have an illustration of my musings... and I open this video with a lovely quote I found that resonates strongly with me:

"Memories are like pages from a well-loved book; filled with warmth and laughter."

You can feel love in a memory of an experience from the past, I believe, and this quote presents a comforting comparison: a well-loved book.

A Poem by an Amateur.

(Note: I'm not a poet, and this piece doesn't follow a lyrical or rhyming scheme. It is rather another creative expression, like the short video clip of my musings.)

I love the smell of the first grass and flowers in the spring.

I hug the people I love and feel their heartbeats.

I love looking at the craftsmanship of mosaics and frescoes.

When I listen to '50s jazz, I hear love in their words.

Tasting what my loved ones made especially for me is a comforting experience.

This is love to me... an experience in all five sense. Now tell me, what does love mean to you?

What about Self-Love?

Finally, musing on 'what love means to me' made me stop and consider the following: what about self-love?. French philosopher Jean J. Rousseau (at times complex but profound ideas; worth a read!) defined another type of love, which is no less important than loving another person. He called this l'amour de soi. Literally translating to love of the self, he differentiates this from an egotistic, socially driven, and detrimental amour propre (love of oneself).

Loving yourself is just as important as loving others, because it is the foundation of healthy loving relationships. The more you accept and embrace yourself, the more resilient and emotionally stable you become. This, in turn, allows you to be more open and vulnerable in your relationships... and to attract love in your life. Amour de soi for the win!

In brief...

I would say that, to me, love has to be embodied or experienced... and what better way to illustrate this than through our five senses! I would love to read your answers or thoughts in the comments: "What does love mean to YOU?" :)

Thank you for reading!