all about love

 

We were taught that if we were good kids, we would be loved by others. We were made to think any form of punishment in the name of love was okay because it was for our good. We were taught to love God, others, animals and objects. We were motivated to love doing service to society. However, we grew with the impression that self-love was selfish. And, the love between two adults mostly remained a sacred (or secret) topic in our culture. The love stories I knew stopped with marriage.

What is then? What is outside of it? What is real? Is love real? Now that I am an adult, I love talking all about love with people who are ready to have that deep, beautiful, sometimes uncomfortable but important conversation.

I didn't know the existence of bell hooks until the news of her death. It's a shame! Several colleagues and a few friends shared how she inspired them to think, act and write. I went and bought this book of hers.

bell hooks deconstructs the popular culture, patriarchal society and capitalism and explains how they stop us from having meaningful conversations about love and practicing love. i was shouting ‘yes’, ‘absolutely’, ‘damn right’ throughout. she also links spirituality with love.

Love is a hard work. We need to work on it constantly.

“Females are encouraged by patriarchal thinking to believe we should be loving, but this does not mean we are any more emotionally equipped to do the work of love than our male counterparts.”

“Genuine love is a personal revolution.”

“Without justice there can be no love.”

P.S: If anyone wants to talk about the book or have a deeper conversation about loving (அன்பு செய்தல்), I am