Love is selfless. (See, I can cut to the truth.) Genuine love is the deep wish for the wellbeing and happiness of another and the will to do what one can to bring that about. If we’re doing something for someone in hope of having personal gain we are not motivated by love but rather by a lesser intent, be it desire, complacency or another avenue of misguided self-interest.
To love isn’t to take part in masochism, though. We need to have a love for ourselves that can help us to descern things that provide us with genuine happiness. Too often we’ll seek out or cling to things that are in reality harmful. Love that is pure will not harm us because it will foster a respect for our own wellness; how can we make someone else happy if we disable ourselves through misery or otherwise limit our capacity to do good?
Loving is rewarding, regardless of if it is returned properly, because it improves who we are. The more genuinely we love, the greater happiness we create in ourselves, the better we maintain ourselves and the more sincere relationships we are able to create.
It’s incredibly challenging to live with love, but there’s nothing else that can bring about a life truly worth living. I’ll admit to falling prey to lesser motivations. My first romantic relationship was very unhealthy. I was not in love with the girl I spent months with; I was caught up in the idea of a relationship and going through the motions without deep love. This isn’t to say that I didn’t care about her or treat her well; I was just not living genuinely and deceiving both of us because of this confusion. I was living within an illusion of happiness that took a long time to realize. I took the lesson to heart, and for that I’m thankful; I now know when I love and do all I can to feed that love.
Romance is both an appreciation for beauty and the creation of beauty. In this way it is both an art and a veneration. We find beauty in the people we love and we create beauty through the love we express. Even the most awkward expressions hold tremendous worth when they are genuine. When I see people with real love for each other there is obvious art in every interaction between them, from the glances of wordless “thank you for being, thank you for blessing me with your beauty” to the gentle gestures of worship.
Through healthy romance we also can more easily recognize our own beauty. Most of us struggle to look past our flaws and failings and find those positive traits to cultivate. Romance is in part a celebration of the beauty of another, but it’s also recognizing the beauty surrounding us and that which resides in us. It’s a sharing of beauty, a collaborative process of creation and worship that can strengthen each person.
Romance, defined in this way, can exist with aberations from love. One can create through acts of romance and appreciate the beauty inherent in another without doing so selflessly. This is one of the easy confusions we can have, to mistake romance for love. There is great good to be gained through romance, but far more when we live with both love and romance. I’d say I’ve always been a romantic person, though perhaps unconventionally so. However, I didn’t manifest love properly, as I said, until I learned to. Since then I’ve not regretted or been unsatisfied by my romances.
Love is a perfect partner for romance. Romance gives the tools for a manifestation of love. Love gives the pure motivation to benefit another and romance gives a method to do so. It’s not always the best way, but when the two are coupled well there’s nothing more magical or rewarding.
As hard as it is to cultivate love and romance, the greater challenge is to learn to understand those we love and their situations well enough to do what it is we can that will benefit them. Especially hard is to know when it’s best to do nothing at all or to mindfully remove ourselves from their lives. It’s easy to veer and believe our actions are helping someone because we want to be helping. This is a failing that can lead to our best intentions being harmful.
How do we learn this? I wish I had the answers. I’m still learning this, still struggling to enhance my mix of intent and proper actions. My second romantic relationship began to teach me of this. The girl I was in love with had deep personal troubles and I did what I thought was best to help her. I failed in that many times, I’m sure, despite my sincere intent. Even now I don’t know what actions would have been best, but I’m ever committed to developing a better sense of this. I’d appreciate any sage advice that might make me better prepared for future loves and romances.
Love and romance are what I wish to dedicate my life to, because they inform everything of value and grant the best perspectives. The path will be challenging but the fruits of them the sweetest. I’ll live for love and live with romance as best I can.
7 comments on “Romantic Manifesto”
As hard as it is to cultivate love and romance, the greater challenge is to learn to understand those we love and their situations well enough to do what it is we can that will benefit them. Especially hard is to know when it’s best to do nothing at all or to mindfully remove ourselves from their lives. It’s easy to veer and believe our actions are helping someone because we want to be helping. This is a failing that can lead to our best intentions being harmful.
How do we learn this? I wish I had the answers.
Same. This passage means so much to me. I am, and have been, dealing with this for the past little while. I feel so strongly for someone, and I know she does to, but she has many many issues. I’ve found myself developing a better sense of how to act in different circumstances, when it is better to leave her be, when to change her focus and make her laugh, and when to address the issue directly and seriously… but its different each time, as it would obviously be in your case. Just take stock each time and learn your lessons and try not to make the same mistake twice. I’ve found its really improved myself as well, both individually and in my everyday outward connections.
Yeah, I think that approaching a relationship as a learning experience is important. Being mindful and doing what we can to live with love will invriably improve us and make our daily interactions better. Knowing that is one of the greatest keys to life, I believe.
That was beautifully said, hun… I applaud.
Thank you.
wow…the cosmos is kind of lining up for me right now. š
one of my co-workers and i went out last night and talked for probably 2 or 3 hours about this.
thanks for writing it all down. *hug*
Syncronicity’s a marvelous thing, isn’t it?
*hug*
definitely. š