Love: An Introduction

If I were to say that “love is energy”, would you understand? When we think of energy, we often think of electrical energy transmitted through wires, solar energy captured in solar cells, or even wind energy transferred through propellers. We learn in school that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transformed. Scientists haven’t the foggiest clue as to what energy really is substantially, so they simply define it as the “capacity to do work”. Most of us though do not realize that love is a form of energy. Love energy can be stored as well as transferred and transformed from one person to another, through touch, loving thoughts expressed in books and poems, in loving words of support and encouragement, in kind deeds, thoughtful gifts, heroic acts of service, and much more. As scientists have more recently observed, love energy can even be stored in objects, whether stones or machines or even water molecules. Love can be shared in times of togetherness, in times of inspired creativity, in times of constructive activity and of building something in partnership and collaboration. And as we soak in the love, we bloom. When love energy is held back, we die of neglect and heartbreak, deprived of the very essence that comprises our beingness. When my husband recently went into an animal shelter to give love to the kitties there (ours have passed and he needs to share love that stores up inside for kitties in particular), he said he had an “aha!” moment. He had heard me talk about love as an energy and didn’t really get it. But on this day, he saw a grey cat looking withered and listless. He held and petted it, scratching its back and little butt near the tail, underneath its chin, up on its head between its ears, and he watched in newfound understanding as the cat returned to life, as Lazarus from the grave. We have been lost to love in our lives. It is time it is found and harnessed for our complete transformation in this 21st century.