I have started a new series “What Is Love?” because to me, that question NEVER gets old. There are always new and modern manifestations and expressions of Love and it is truly a joy to encounter and highlight each of them.
My Love research for this question “What is Love?” yielded hundreds and hundreds of results. I have done my best to break them down into logical topics of organization so that you might be able to explore your most interesting Love niches first.
General Definitions Of Love
This section was more of a collection of general, mainstream and reference based writings on Love. I was excited to see Love in headlines like the Economist and NPR’s blog. Of course, there is also the infamous Wikipedia with its crowd sourced encyclopaedic goodness.
65 Definitions Of Love – Our most popular LOVEolution article ever and a collection on ideas of Love from various people in our LOVEolution network.
Philosophy is super important when it comes to Love in order to really understand the various definitions of Love. Love doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Most people assume when you say Love you mean a certain kind (typically romantic Love). The idea here is to expand our view and definition of Love so that we may understand the many meanings of Love and be more precise when we say we Love.
Entry on Love from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, aka a VERY scholarly and academic source. Lot’s of academic oversight which allows a great academic exploration of Love from a philosophical standpoint. Is Love An Art? By Dr. Kathleen O’Dwyer – A sample of an article on Love from Philosophy Now magazine. (Subscription required to see full article) Philosophers Ponder: What Is Love? – The Marin Independent Journal interviews Troy Jollimore associate professor of philosophy at California State University at Chico.
Scientific Research and Considerations
Love in science is absolutely fascinating. There are consistently new discoveries and information being learned partially due to new technology like being able to see brain function previously inaccessible from even our best technology available. The articles in this section explore the internal mechanisms that make Love work in our heart and minds.
What Is Love by Deborah Taj Anapol Ph.D – Deborah Anapol, Ph. D shares why she believes Love is inherently free and cannot be bought, sold or traded How Do I Love Thee? Experts Count 8 Ways – A scientific look at why we Love by LiveScience. What Is Love? (Baby Don’t Hurt Me…) – Researchers at Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging hosted 1st Annual Love Competition using fMRI machine. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, What is Love? – An empirically-based essentialist account of what Love is. A two-part study which investigates new possibilities in our understanding the nature of love. What Is Love? By Chris Smith – Chris Smith lecturer at Cambridge University writes about the neurological and chemical clockwork underlying love. How Love Works – How Stuff Works breaks down the mechanics of Love and how it works. “What Is Love? A Brief History of its Many Medical Meanings” – Time magazine examine Love, health and medicine from a historical perspective. Human Nature Watch “What Is Love?” – A look at what is love which also challenges various scientific research out there. The Brain On Love – Diane Ackerman from The New York Times discusses the exciting new field of Interpersonal Neurobiology 150 Definitions Of Love – Despite this less than great looking website, there is some incredible information about past and present theories of Love as well as a look into chemistry. Definitely great for stimulating further Love study and concept understanding. What exactly is Love? – A look at Love from a scientific perspective with references to various research.
Religious and Spiritual
Religion and Spirituality in general are consistently discussing such concepts as Love. Love thy neighbor is the Golden Rule in Christianity. Hillel the elder from the Talmud tells us to Love one another and that this is the most important lesson from the sacred Judaic text. Hinduism and Buddhism are known for philosophies supporting all life. Islam also touts loving oneself, each other and God.
At the end of the day no matter what our history, background, faith and tradition, if we’re talking about Love we are part of a Universal consciousness of Unconditional Love. And that is truly a great thing.
There are many Love movements out there and it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones to check out. I’m confident there are many other movements and discussions out there I have omitted, however, these are particularly noteworthy choices exploring Love in interesting, unique and inspiring ways.
The Love list would truly be incomplete without Romantic Love. This is usually what people think you mean when you say “Love”. These articles take a look at the intimate side of Love from the perspective of finding an intimate partner, spouse or other form of Lover.
I found some videos on Love including a BBC documentary and Stanford Research exploring the complexities of Love.
What Is Love? (TEDxRaleigh) – Yours truly, author of this article, shares his thoughts on the meaning and exploration of Love philosophically, scientifically and spiritually at TEDxRaleigh 2011.
What Is Love? (Stanford Research) – Researchers at Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging hosted 1st Annual Love Competition.
BBC Documentary What Is Love – BBC producer Neil Trevithick explores how people think, feel and deal with Romantic Love across the globe. What Is The Man’s Guide To Love – A video explaining the Man’s Guide To Love website and purpose. Where Love Begins – Silvie and Maryl TV, created by holistic lifestyle coaches, passionately help people upgrade from the inside out.
Free Material and Downloads
If you are serious about exploring Love, you will be happy to find lots of free resources out there. I found some substantive PDFs from Spiritual, Scientific and Social perspectives on Love.
The Love That Does Justice by Michael Edwards – The Love That Does Justice by Michael Edwards, free PDF download from his website. Have read through this (376) page before and used this when preparing my TedxRaleigh talk on What Is Love What Is Love? A Conceptual Analysis – A scholarly analysis focusing on Love theories of Plato, St Augustine and Freud. “What Is Love, What Is Sex?” – From Human Relations Media: A teachers guide to teaching adolescents about the challenges of sex vs. Love and provide guidelines for making health decisions. Mind Map On Love – Keith Rice has a mind map on Love, very in-depth but a little hard to read.
As always thanks for reading and feel free to stay a while and take a look around. We’ll be bringing you more Love Media on a daily basis from across the world.
I was SUPER nervous about my talk especially considering it was an audience of TED enthusiasts. I had a lot to cover in the amount of time alloted but I was ready to give it a shot.
TED hosts national and global events which have featured designers, programers, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and hundreds of other incredibly smart and accomplished individuals.
Tedx is a locally organized spin-off from TED, still retaining the name, brand and event support but whose execution ultimately in the hands of the local market and organizers.
Organizers included Brian Foreman, Judy White, Heather Allen, Travis Moore, Brad Hankins, Andy Heymann and David Moore.
Volunteers included Dan Norris, Joel Adler, Lorana Price, AJ Viola, Sara Rose Roman, Brian Tapio, Mae Davis, Audra Ohlweiler, Sarah Southerland, Nate Brown, Chris Morse, Jack Perez, Brock Foreman, Nicole Alvarez, Cristina Roman, Sarah Wechsberg, Philip Rasmus, Paul Baumann, Rachel Tabor, and Prem Ranganath.
Despite my excited thought-jumping delivery, I sought to deliver three main insights:
Love is multi-faceted providing us with many capacities to Love - Eros, Philia and Agape. The Love of Desire, Brotherly Love, and Transcendent Universal Love. We can love inanimate objects like ice cream or concepts like science, we can love our parents, siblings, friends (Philia) yet also love someone romantically (Eros), we can love life itself and the Universe (Agape). We must learn to recognize the depth and breadth of Love and our capacity to Love in each of those areas and beyond.
Love, and our heart specifically, affects our whole body – The Heart Brain connection is a fascinating concept, indicating that our heart has its own set of neurons capable of the same processing (and arguably even more) than our brain. In addition, our heart has demonstrated significant electromagnetic power on magnometers in scientific settings. Understanding the “Biology Of Belief” and other Heart-Mind-Body connections are essential to really activating Love from the inside out.
Love and Live Courageously – Approaching others in a friendly way is essential. I make my best effort to live harmoniously and monitor my ego and Shadow. (Rejected or negative parts of oneself) We might not live perfectly but with careful conscious reflection and day to day improvements we can master Love which is one of, if not the most powerful, force in the Universe.
On Valentines Day in particular we might externally project our ideal desires, feelings and fantasies regarding relationships. It seems like everyone else has someone doesn’t it? Well, I believe this is our mind tricking us into believing that “the grass is greener on the other side”. It’s not. Happiness comes from within not without.
We’re the ones that need to make the internal change which, once completed successfully, will create external changes. How do you know if these concepts work? You’ll just have to try them and actively experience the reality that ensues.
Take a moment and think about how happy you are right this moment on a scale of 1-10 regarding Love and Relationships.
Take the pressure off yourself having to attract some perfect external mate, you have the power of self-love available to you right now. Apply these concepts below and see if your 1-10 # from above changes by the end of today.
Be more aware – I have recently re-embraced awareness much more carefully and consciously. It has made each moment much more enjoyable and I feel that I get much more out of life as a result. The universe seems to reward those that pay attention to it.
Consciously create dialogue – Dialogue is the vehicle of creation. This applies on pretty much every level imaginable which is why I have been making a great effort to direct my dialogues (whether internal or external) towards what I really want. Thus far the results have been smoothly increasing in quality. The best thing you can do for yourself is to create positive constructive dialogues with yourself and others rooted in Love.
Compliment - More awareness will cause you to notice more about those around you. People, businesses or any other institution will respond very positively towards praise. Think about how often people dialogue over negative situations and circumstances. Stand out and be that person who brings positive vibes wherever you go.
Cultivate friendships – Everywhere you look people have their “group” of close friends and often don’t make any effort to bring in newcomers. This is why it is super important to cultivate your own personal network of friends. The more diverse the better. In addition, creating situations where people can meet each other (i.e. parties, Meetups) is an ideal way to accelerate bringing friends closer together and including newcomers.
Nurture relationships – Life is composed of relationships. We are in a relationship with everything in the universe on some level. Think about those close to you. Consider those dialogues you want to create more of (from point #2). It is nurturing which acts as a bonding glue with our relationships. Simple messages touching base or invitations out for food and drink are how simple it can be but you must be consistent.
Forgive – One could peruse the core teachings of universal spiritual figures like Jesus and would find forgiveness offered as a consistent tool toward Love. I have found that the #1 person requiring forgiveness is ourselves. Sometimes we can be very tough on who we are and what we do. With that said, we undoubtedly have many sources outside of ourselves that attract our ire. Forgiveness combines with you perspective and intention acts as a cleansing agent and helps us create a more pure reality ultimately dissapating the anger and other negative feelings attached with outside sources. It’s taking SUPER responsibility.
Appreciate – Appreciation is such an incredible amplifier of happiness. If things are going well this perspective will make life even more enjoyable. However, even if we’re spinning our wheels in a valley of inaction, appreciation is a great way to pull ourselves back on track. Appreciating what we have can really help us step back and really soak in the great things around us no matter what the circumstances.
Listen – Most of the time in life people do not listen to each other. This applies to customers, parents, children, boyfriends, girlfriends, co-workers, employers, employees, business partners and most importantly ourselves. A lot of the time we just want to get out what we want to say and may not offer any presence to the other side. What’s great about REALLY listening is that you learn a lot about yourself and others.
Take Incremental Constructive Action – There is no better gift for yourself than positive acts of self-love. It could be booking a hot date, doing exercise, going for a walk, having a relaxing evening, spending time with family or even partying with friends. On the more professional side, you could devote yourself to studying and training in a field you are most passionate about. Don’t hold back on spending as much time, energy and money you need to get to where you want to be. This doesn’t mean be excessive but simply supportive to your cause.
Be Asserively Active – As you implement these Love methods within your own life and out in the material world, it helps to be an active Love generator. Although technically we don’t need to do anything with Love but simply be and experience, we can also take that energy and broadcast it outward. This could mean talking to a stranger in a friendly way, writing a letter of praise to a government, non-profit, insitution or business or even telling a manager how their employees did a great job providing service. I’m a firm believer that every little thing adds up so don’t hold back your Love!
Repeat in your head, “I Love You, I’m Sorry, Please Forgive Me, Thank You”. Do this as much as you can and notice how your feeling state and day changes. I’ve been using it for years with pretty great results. Experience is the best teacher and will confirm if this works for you.
“Hoʻoponopono” is defined in the Hawaiian Dictionary[11] as “mental cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were set right through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, and mutual restitution and forgiveness.” Literally, hoʻo is the equivalent to the English “to”. It creates a verb from the noun pono, which is defined as
Ponopono is defined as “to put to rights; to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up, make orderly or neat.” (Wikipedia)
This technique was used by Dr. Len Ihaleakala daily where he looked at the files of the patients of a criminally insane asylum. The end result was people getting better and being transfered elsewhere ultimately causing the facility to be shut down.
And for the last Love contributor on our list, we require you to look in the mirror to see their face. You, are an important contributor to the LOVE and the Loveolution which exists only by virtue of our continued collective attention.
Thank you for your contributions of love to yourself and others. Myself and the others at the LOVEolution greatly value the gift of Love you bring to the world each and everyday.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to continuing the journey with all of you.
A few weeks back I was approached by an individual with a magnetic fuel system called EnviroMagnetics offering to test the system out on our diesel truck for College Hunks Hauling Junk.
We decided to move forward with the test on the truck and have been keeping track of the data through our Fleet Card management system which records the mileage and gallon data at the time of fuel fill up.
I have also opted to put the system on my 1999 Honda Accord EX and have been keeping track of baseline data.
Fuel System on my 99 Honda Accord
On the Isuzu diesel truck
I have posted this information on facebook and there is a collective of people who think that the results of the device are “impossible” with one person saying “If you could increase the fuel economy of a car by 20-25% every car manufacturer would put these in cars by default.”
This appears to be a very controversial system based on the reaction from the facebook crowd. I also showed the video to my middle aged uncle who was incredibly dubious of the device’s credibility. This indicates to me a general operating environment and attitude of disbelief and skepticism by the collective.
I have simply sought to neither confirm nor deny any claims although I will admit I am excited and hoping to see the data prove the device’s results.
I have taken the liberty of gathering some supporting materials and resources on this device so one might be able to research and study the information for themselves. They are not the most professional pieces but enough to give an idea of the possibilities and basic functions:
I would invite anyone and everyone on all sides of this issue to comment below and comment below as to why you think this might sound plausible or not.
Perspectives which embody blatant skepticism and/or blind faith with no analysis or critical thinking are not preferred.
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading, contributing, commenting and otherwise bringing your attention to Love. I am so thrilled to see everyone continuing to share through this community and beyond.
I have been busy building the College Hunks Hauling Junk franchise in Raleigh, NC as well as joining the corporate team in a marketing capacity ultimately helping to strengthen the brand nationwide as well as coaching franchisees on prudent marketing choices.
We’re helping residents and commercial clients to de-clutter by getting rid of their unwanted items while dealing with them in an eco-friendly manner. We recycle, donate, redistribute and otherwise reuse as many of the items as we can.
The company culture is truly spectacular and focuses on building leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow while providing exceptional service and helping the local community.
Everyone I have interacted with in the company are passionate and care about what they are doing. It is a group of people who want to call their own shots while at the same time benefiting those around them. (I’ll share more in a Corporate Culture article series.)
I believe that my Love studies and practices have allowed me to attract such a passionate, positive and loving network while simultaneously creating and walking new paths in a very short amount of time.
And I am excited to port these skills I’m learning over to the LOVEolution. I’m so impressed by everyone’s participation in the LOVEolution and while I may get quiet at times, I am always thinking of how we can help to share, experience and saturate the world with more and more Love.
Thank you so much and I’m looking forward to past, present and future to come!
Much Love,
Aaron Mangal
Co-founder, The LOVEOLUTION
aaron(at)love-olution(dot)com
“The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”- Vincent van Gogh
The overall vision of TLF-Liberia is to assist people to build a practical foundation and understanding of unconditional love within individuals and the Liberian society as a whole.
It is an organization focusing on training the minds to change the attitudes of negative perceptions by individuals thus providing a most desirable alternative solution to economic problem of absolute poverty, political instability, social and religious differences which continue to impede/retard the progress of unity, lasting peace and development in Liberia. It includes unconditional love education through seminars and workshops, the media(radio, television, print, ICTs) billboards, flyers, posters, etc. at community levels in various vernaculars of Liberia. Different forms of educational programs cover day-care centers, primary and secondary levels, the universities and colleges, communities and with the social and religious institutions collectively. To stimulate social harmony, programs such as cultural dances, sports, film productions, creative writings, music, traditional arts, poetry, arts and crafts, shall be highlighted among others. By the messages of love sent forth through various means, inter-personal, tribal and religious controversies shall not easily escalate into chaotic situations, but shall be managed easier from the concept of unconditional love which transcends human limitations.
Considering the preponderance of sports in promoting social harmony, police stations in areas where our presence shall be felt will no longer be crowded as before with cases involving issues of fighting and many forms of inter-personal misunderstanding. By your involvement in other ways, Liberians will be exposed to the bedrock foundation of unity, lasting peace and development haven been assisted to rise above their limitation and begin to share love unconditionally.
The doctrine fostering the respect for human rights/dignity in Liberia will be given an underpinning gravity as individuals begin to conceptualize unconditional love as a basis for every thought, feeling and action, is a prudent means through which any developing country can attain progress.
In Liberia, most people would prefer to associate with others who can offer what they desire in terms of economic potential or people would come down to earth purposely to achieve political goals, otherwise, people choose to associate on tribal and religious sentiments. TLF-Liberia is intended to enhance the promotion of unity and lasting peace by inspiring and motivating people to love unconditionally through the exploration of various activities that foster love.
THE IMMEDIATE PLANS FOR THE LOVE FOUNDATION-LIBERIA
The Love Foundation-Liberia recognizing love as the perfect bound of unity and hope, transcends the limitation of religious, gender, and creed, reaching out to all without precondition with the aim that through our activities:
The weak finds strength
The confused finds strength
The intelligent grows wiser
The divided becomes re-united
Our nation is moved forward
Our immediate plans is to raise friendly supports to give us some credence and sense of purpose enabling us to organize ourselves through short-term training workshops and to rent a little place where we can be located. We strive to design multiple motivational programs that inspire unconditional love education through the arts that teach morals. It is our desire to as well liaise with humanitarian organizations and individuals locally and internationally for support in cash and kind to carry out charitable and research projects in Monrovia and its environs. All of our activities for now will be focused in Monrovia as a starting point.
OUR LONG TERM PLANS
By the year 2012, TLF-Liberia whishes to begin decentralizing all aspects of here activities thereby having her influence felt in all of the fifteen counties of Liberia.
As a reliable means of fiscal support, TLF-Liberia whishes to undertake agricultural projects in any of the counties which is a prudent means of keeping the organization potent in terms of financial self reliance.
By 2015, TLF-Liberia wishes to begin with programs/projects envisioning the promotion of unconditional love which will involve the active participations of citizens especially youth of neighboring countries bordering Liberia and the sub-region of West Africa.
WHAT I AM MOST PROUD OF IN THIS ENTITY I AM CREATING
To be proud is to have positive accomplishment(s). There are nothing more successful and cheerful than dwelling together in unity as TLF-Liberia is becoming daily. In as much as there is nothing that The Love Foundation-Liberia has to offer it members in terms of allowances, everyone is always happy to contribute towards every aspect of our undertaking. Some would go to an extend of crediting money from people only to keep TLF-Liberia alive.
I also feel proud that even the kids are willing and happy to be with us whenever we need them.
Except for the hard costs of living in Liberia where about 80% pf the total population is living on less than $1.00 per day, all is well with us and continue to be better.
I am greatly proud of Loveolution that is making remarkable impact on TLF-Liberia through the website, also the co-founders of Loveolution: Aaron and Justin, who are key motivational force behind all that we are doing and continue to achieve in Liberia.
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I am very inspired by Neabei and his country men and womens’ efforts. It is truly amazing to see such Love coming from a place which historically has dealt with so many chaotic challenges. We are proud to support Neabei’s Global Vision of Love In Liberia!
