Authentic love is my concept of love. It extends far beyond romantic love or even consummate love shared with a life partner.
To me, love in the broadest sense of the word is everything good; it is the unconditional force for good. It is pure and resolute, with no self-serving agenda, with no degrees or deviation. It is both passion and peace. It is responsibility and freedom, strength and tenderness, rock solid and transparent. It is defenseless and invulnerable! It is neither pride nor shame. It is fearless, unifying, compassionate, and healing. It is mine, yours, nobody’s, and everybody’s.
It can’t be seen, or touched, or quantified; but it is everywhere. It is everything. It is the only thing that matters.
We talk about love loosely, but we know what it really is! We know when we actually feel it, because love permeates our being. It IS our being, our core essence.
Often we dismiss it, rather than sit with it. We busy ourselves with less. And afraid that our worth is measured in what can be quantified, we pursue money, appearance, and formal education, as well as the sex that validates them.
But what can be seen and touched is created by the ego, as part of that defense for our perceived inadequacy.
Authentic love is the fairytale.