Psychotherapy Networker Magazine – What Is This Thing Called Love? A Whole New Way of Looking at It – By Barbara Fredrickson – January-February 2014 Issue
It’s Valentine’s weekend. The “L” word is strutting around out in the open. But what does it mean? Most people have a longing to be touched by it, even filled up by it. How do we get there? What can we do to make it happen? Will we even recognize it when we feel it? How do we sustain it?
Barbara Fredrickson’s article – What Is This Thing Called Love? – offers a whole new way of looking at it. She proposes that, while you may subscribe to a whole host of definitions of love, your body subscribes to just one: Love is that micro-moment of warmth and connection that you share with another living being. Love is connection… Love blossoms virtually anytime two or more people – even strangers – connect over a shared positive emotion, be it mild or strong. And she outlines steps to allow yourself to experience the deep connections of love.
After you read the article, close the screen, close your eyes, and allow yourself to be filled up by the feeling of, yes, I can do that.
The power of love came into me,
and I became fierce like a lion,
then tender like the evening star.”
― Rumi