Journaling about love

In action movies strong characters often only finally say I love you just before all hell breaks loose and they have to run for their lives. I used to think people who constantly said I love you seemed fake. But then 2020 happened.

As we contemplate our mortality during a worldwide pandemic, we are all characters in an action thriller. So I’m saying I love you.

But what does that mean?

To begin to understand love in depth, I turned to All About Love: New Visions, a book by author and scholar bell hooks, who defines love as more than a feeling, and more than romance:

“To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients—care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication,” bell hooks says. “To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility.”

I’m also going to call in Rupaul’s oft-repeated phrase from Drag Race: “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”

Because to practice love in its active, meaningful form, begins with ourselves and radiates outwards from there.

Let’s start with some simple ideas, because, honey, we’re not going to change the world in a day or a week! It has to be an ongoing practice!

I invite you to journal with me on this week’s question: In thinking of love as an action, what are simple and specific ways I can practice love within myself and within my community at this time?

I’ll be journaling with you!

With love (as an action!),

Suzanne

Journaling with @suzannealyssaauthor is a new weekly series on Instagram where we explore healing, growth and change. Follow me there, and we’ll write together!