“He loved constantly, instantly, spontaneously, without thought or words. That’s what he taught me. Love is not something you think about, it is a state in which you dwell. That was his gift.” – Christopher Moore, Lamb.
Love. A simple word, yet complex in reality. I love how the author, Christopher Moore, calls Love a gift in one of his quotes about love. It truly is the best gift you can give to yourself and others.
A pure and spontaneous emotion. Yet many find it exhausting and challenging to love others. They are afraid to open their minds and place their trust in someone else, open their hearts to being vulnerable and love, lest they get hurt.
But love is an essential aspect of our integral being. It is the magic key to the door that has several gifts in store. Where there is love, there is trust, faith, respect, patience, hope, kindness, forgiveness, and truth.
The key begins with the complete acceptance and love for the self. Self-love is not selfishness; it is kindness to yourself. Doesn’t charity begin at home? So start looking for love from within. Hug and love yourself every single day. Including those scars and flaws, some visible, many invisible.
But there’s a catch. Love without being attached, even to yourself. Since there is a thin line between kindness to yourself and narcissism. Too many people are consumed with loving themselves that they cannot see beyond their noses.
Narcissism and love cannot coexist. Narcissism loves to pick on the flaws in others and publicly ridicule them. It is sadism to gloat over someone’s weakness, disability, and failure and raise yourself up at the cost of someone’s sorrow.
Every one of us is flawed and broken. We make mistakes day in and day out. Maybe we can try to put ourselves in someone’s shoes and understand their journey. Maybe we can hold on to our judgement, stop the rumour mongering, the character assassination, and hate. Maybe we’ll discover and learn something new; better still experience Love in an unexpected place. As someone wise rightly said, “It is nice to be important, but more important to be nice.”
Love is freedom. To love wholeheartedly without any expectations or attachment is the most liberating experience. Freedom from the aggrandizing importance of the self. Freedom from bias and the fear of loving others different from us.
Love sees everyone as equal. It is cognizant that we are all related, worthy of love, and construct humankind. Love is the essence of life, and one must never stop loving because of traumatic experiences.
It doesn’t mean we put on blinders and love everyone. It means adopting a holistic outlook and judging others from an objective space. With prudence, empathy, patience, and even hope. What’s there to life without love and hope after all!
Love is a courageous act in times of hatred, and it manifests in words and deeds of kindness and forgiveness. So love in all consciousness.
“Let all that you do be done in love.”–1 Corinthians 16:14.
This blog post is a part of the Petals of Love Blog Hop hosted by Swarnali Nath.
Photo by fotografierende from Pexels
Love this post. And yes, loving one’s self can be tricky. Ironically, those who need to love themselves the most often doubt if they are worthy while those who have quite an inflated opinion of themselves… Well, we see a lot of that on social media anyway to day 🙂
That’s a beautiful post Tina. It’s very true there’s a thin line between self love and narcissism. And those who need self love most lead life in self doubt.
Love is indeed the greatest gift. And yes, to be able to wholly love oneself without crossing over to narcissism would be truly rewarding. Loved every thought you put into this beautiful emotion, Tina.
Love is a courageous act in times of hatred. This stirred so much in me. Such a beautiful post 😍
So trueee.. charity begins at home, and self love is lot different than self assertiveness.. loving yourself lets you live others more.. lovely read..
I so strongly resonate with your thought dear. I am always saying this same thing. Love is when we appreciate every little effort by people around us. Love is seeing good. Live is believing that everything happening is for our best interests. The moment we start being critical and question things the purity of love is over.
Great post and I am so glad that you had talked about thin line between self love and narcissisms. many times, people get over obsessed with self love and forget that thin line. it is very important to maintain a balance between having a self loving attitude and at the same time, respecting and caring other people’s feelings.
There are numerous ways to love ourselves and others without being selfish or rude. How true is that!! Love, in the true sense, is liberation. Lots of beautiful takeaways from this post.
I loved how comprehensively you’ve laid out the concept of love and it’s derivatives. Self love confused with narcissism is so rampant and you’ve laid out the differences quite well. Love is meant to be loved with all your heart and your writeup just strengthened my belief!! Thankyou for the gorgeous piece 🥰loved it!!
This is a lovely post with a lot of learnings inside. I really like the way you talk about the difference between Narcissism and love.
There are several facets of every emotion. And any emotion when experienced in extremes can go haywire. So is the case with self love. While narcissism is one aspect of it, diffidence or self doubt is the other extreme end. Great points to ponder upon Tina.
Tina I just loved the deep thoughts between the lines and you have woven the whole piece so beautifully. So many shades under one umbrella of love. I loved the line, “love is freedom”. So true is that! Thanks for joining us and gifting us such a beautiful love dose. I am grateful to you dear. Best wishes. 💐💐❤❤
A post that finally made me say now that’s love and it makes life better for us and others.
Hug and love yourself every single day. Including those scars and flaws, some visible, many invisible.
I liked these lines a lot. Of course we need to avoid the extremes. Your amazing post makes one think at so many levels. Beautiful.
Deepika Sharma
You have beautifully described the essence of love – freedom. Enjoyed reading this thought-provoking post. I also liked the quotes that you shared.
Loved the deep thoughts and how beautifully you have highlighted the thin line between self-love and narcissism.”Love is freedom” and most liberating experience only if you love everyone equally without any bias.Beautiful post.
Its amazing how your discribed love to narcissism. That line where most people get lost. And as you said self love is not selfish!
Absolutely agree with each word that describes how pure love should be and how a person can show it without mongering anything destructively. I couldn’t agree more with this; what you mentioned above, ‘ we can hold on to our judgment’ is indeed a very significant and the very starting point to correct ourselves. You have put all the valid factors to understand love in every way better! judgment
Your post is truly inspiring and insightful Tina ❤ It has answers for all the questions and doubts raised about Self Love & Narcissism. You have been able to explain a complex subjects with so much of ease.
Wonderful take on the prompt, Tina ! How beautifully you expressed the thin line between self love and narcissism and it really does take a lot of courage to open up and be vulnerable in love. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly !
A very wise thought, an important reminder and so well written, Tina. Such a pleasure reading this very balanced post.
Love has the capacity to move mountains and fuse souls together. I liked your idea of self-love, not being attached to oneself is a great way to be kind yet not be narcissistic.
What a beautiful post Tina! You have indeed penned down the thin line between self love and narcissisms really well. Many times, by claiming about loving the self, we tend to be selfish and hurt the feelings of people around us. While I believe self love is important, I also believe that love is giving and hence considering about others is also love. And btw, that quote is superb!
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Tina this is a really wonderful post! Self-love is important for everybody. Tina, you wonderfully explain self-love, and it’s really amazing.