By: Heather Shea, Director
ICYMI, today is Valentine’s Day (queue the sappy love song and bring in the overpriced red roses). I don’t know about you, but the commercialism of holidays in the U.S. just feels like a lot of things to buy – just check out the “seasonal” section in any grocery store (see picture).
In today’s TOTD, I’m not going to focus on the ways that holidays have been commercialized (that’s another whole topic), however, I do want to suggest an expanding, reframed concept of love.
What is love? (earworm for you today – you’re welcome).
Barbara Fredrickson, author of Love 2.0, said that we have elevated love to some kind of exclusive status, as the supreme emotion reserved for only one person. In this article she reframes love as “micro-moments of connection between people–even strangers.”
In short, Fredrickson posits that we should expand our definition and practice love more widely in order to see the larger tapestry of life and all of the interconnections that exist. Further, I’ve learned in my research for this TOTD that there are many types of love and knowing how to apply this emotion more broadly across our communities and relationships may be useful today. Afterall, I think we need more love in our world right now–and not just romantic love. Here’s a short article about the ways that the Greeks conceptualized different types of love; knowing them might change your life.
Maybe we need to increase our fluency in language around love and belonging and also recognize that we don’t necessarily “love” in the same way across all relationships. Chances are, you’ve probably heard of Gary Chapman’s concept of Love Languages. Maybe gaining understanding of our own needs around love may allow us to bring this into a community sphere. I found this fascinating translation of the love languages into social justice.
Perhaps, as a collective, we can build upon this idea that love is about connection and shared meaning within a community focused on social justice.
Afterall, Cornel West, public scholar and activist said, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”
Interested in sharing your own "Thought Of The Day" or TOTD? Email us at wss@msu.edu.
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