Papoose Fiction: Measuring Love
"If each person on the planet took just one or two seconds to close their eyes, genuinely smile, and turn their vision, or attention, inward while smiling, then there would be global peace. It only takes a second or two, so please, take a moment now.""Yes?," he said, "Great, continue doing good. Bye bye." "No!" she refuses.
"Um... okay... well, this is kinda awkward. I really didn't prepare anything..." I see her shake your head with judgment. "So what's your name?" She doesn't answer. "Okay, well check this out: in order to love yourself, you have to first let go of both the events from the past that have affected you and the events approaching your life as we speak."
"Approaching? What are you talking about?" she asks, "stoop hid!"
"Keep in mind we are talking about love here, not lust nor passion. Love is how you should feel about your mother and father; lust is how you feel towards your lover; and passion is what makes your lover jealous of the love we have for our parents, for example."
Love is Confusing
"Okay, but that was confusing too," she complains, "so, now I'm confused twice.""The word love is often confused or combined with lust or passion, both of which are completely unrelated to love. As a result, sometimes when we finally achieve a love for our sexual partner, the passion and romance seem to disappear as emotions founded in lust are now rooted in love, causing sexual attraction to take a backseat to concern and care."
"That's how you feel about family, right?" she asks.
"Yes, you care for another person to experience happiness or joy, and you feel concerned should you suspect the loved one is not experiencing happiness or joy."
Love is Simple
"Is it really that simple?" she asks."Love is very complicated, but the definition and processes governing love can be defined quite simply, yes."
"And then what?" she asks.
"So, to put it simply when defining self-love--as related to our main point on world peace, which we can circle back to--the brain requires incentive in order to act on a thought. You can say the words self love to yourself, in which case, the brain thinks the words as they are spoken, but that is not the same as having the actual thought of self love."
Brain On Love
"Right, the brain needs to digest the concept into an applicable practice," she realizes."So to truly process the idea and internalize it, we have to think of the definition while saying the words to ourselves."
"Wait, what?"
"I think I phrased that wrong, let me try it this way: the brain has the words self love at the forefront of its thoughts, right?"
"Yeah?"
"But it lacks a definition to put the idea into practice. Makes sense?"
"Kinda; can you explain more?"
"Sure!" She's not shaking her head, but curiosity keeps her sarcasm at bay for the time being.
"Concern and care of happiness. Are you concerned for your own happiness and do you care about how happy or joyful you are?"
"Whoa! Don't be comin at me like dat!" she defends.
"It's not directed at you per se; the question is for you to ask yourself: do I care about myself and my happiness? If not, or if not happy or joyful to begin with, then am I concerned about my own happiness?"
"So that's a question; where's the definition?"
Love Defined
"Ah! That's interesting! The definition of love is 'selfless desire to ensure another's happiness'.""So how does that help me internalize it?"
"Because you can stop for a split second, give your attention to just your own thoughts--almost like meditating--and check on your own state of happiness or sadness, then naturally your brain will self-examine the answer to that question if the answer is not an inspiring yes in all aspects of life. Wherever you fall short, your brain will try to analyze why."
"So that's good?" she asks.
"It's just another obstacle to cloud your mind from loving yourself."
"Huh?" she argues.
"You see, when you were young, way back before you could speak, you had a gift of a love for life. Slowly, different events led to you forming opinions and views of your environment."
"Is that how you were?" she asks.
"Yes and no."
"?"
"Yes, I had my own views... and still do; but no, that's not the correct question to guide your kind towards a stillness that will invoke a peaceful calm over your senses that you can harness to foster self love on a permanent basis."
"Wait, what? Permanent? How?" she asks.
Permanent Love
"Isn't that what we're talking about? Having love on a permanent basis, both for yourself and others.""And you have that?"
"Well, I mean I hide it, but yes."
"Why do you hide it?"
"Because it's become a rare trait among people lately, but it shouldn't be."
"I don't know. You could claim anything that isn't readily provable," she argues common sense.
"Fair enough. Count with me: one, two, three, and joy! Felt that? Cool right?"
"Wow! How'd you do that?"
"Well, I was trying to explain but you won't shut up. Sorry, it's not your fault. Let's get some rest. Maybe try again tomorrow."