Chiara Townley
Contributor
“So many occasions we think of love as being romantic and all of that. Just love because it’s good in itself, just love living creatures.”
These are the words of Congressman John Lewis. I heard them on a podcast, where he was invited to talk about how love played a role in his fight against segregation. He said that even when he got beaten up, he still loved the human behind that cruel action, because that person wasn’t born hateful. Something had happened to him.
I admire the courage of John Lewis and his commitment to put love in all his actions. I don’t think many people are able to love so deeply and unconditionally, but he can be a model for all of us in the most difficult moments of our lives. The truth is that love is all around. We can find love in every action because love is a state of mind and a way of living.
I was lucky enough to receive a lot of love from my parents, and I grew up believing that love is powerful and can win against all obstacles, like in the fairy tales. In my life, love has always been the winner. In the darkest times I clung to it and persisted. If we don’t give up at love, we will always be surrounded by it.
Love fascinates me, because it’s one of the mysteries of life. Scientists can explain many things, but they will never be able to explain love. There is no explanation. Love differentiates us from animals and every other living thing and for this reason we should cherish it and never let it go. If we surrender, there is no hope. We have to believe in it.
The first thing we should love and be thankful for is the Universe. I will never understand why some people are not able to respect this planet and throw trash on it. It’s our home, the only one we’ll ever know.
Then we should love ourselves because if we don’t do that we will never be able to love a partner fully. If we look for a validation because we are insecure it’s not a genuine feeling and it will bring us pain sooner or later.
Once we are ready to love others we should extend that feeling to all living things and to all our actions. At that point it all comes back to us full circle. Love comes back in different forms and make us feel well. It can be a smile, a hug, a kiss or a plant that grows thanks to our constant care.
Love doesn’t know boundaries, age, gender or race. It’s painful for me to read about hate and racism episodes because I see that evil is also a full circle. If we don’t receive love when we are kids it’s harder to nurture it and love others when we get older.
If we hurt, that pain will come back to us in some way. Love is human nature. It needs to be nurtured but it’s there. Hate is not. It’s a burden that makes life miserable
Martin Luther King had something important to say about the difference between love and hate:
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Stick to love.
Always.
More About Chiara Townley: Chiara Townley was born in Milan, Italy in 1984. She has always had a passion for foreign languages and travel. She lived in 4 countries to date and she likes defining herself as a citizen of the world. Chiara became an author to inspire and empower. She believes that travel is a passion that can take us to different paths in life – a vehicle to open new horizons. Her motto is: “Fairy tales exist and it depends on us to make them happen.” You can learn more about Chiara at chiarabtownley.com.