What's love got to do with it?
- by Rachel Davidson
- •
- 03 Jul, 2020
- •
Plenty as it happens...
I heard about a politician crying in the houses of parliament the other day. It was lovely.
It was lovely because of the reason she cried; in lament of how loveless a society we reside in. It was a powerful demonstration of heartfelt human compassion, unusual enough to make headlines.
She was focused upon one particular aspect of what it seems is a constant background thrum of our society’s general 'loveless-ness' - she campaigned about a particular piece of social-care law, citing how this had caused some of her constituents to take their own lives. She wept when she read their names out, no doubt because as she did so, she recalled the individuals, invoked their lost humanity. Named them. Specific, real, actual once-here people. Mourned their vulnerability against a faceless, unloving society which had acted in such a manner that made these individuals feel they had no option but to leave, in the most permanent way possible.
A few weeks earlier to this politician’s tears, there was news of a celebrity’s untimely death by suicide. A so called successful, beautiful, ‘got-it-all’ kind of woman who had decided that she no longer wished to suffer her ‘success’. Not if, apparently, it meant she was condemned to feel as judged, vulnerable and discarded as it was reported she did.
I don’t generally buy into the idea that ‘everything is going to hell in a handcart’ or listen to the fear-selling doomsayers who are fond of pronouncing that we live in the worst of times.
I think that humanity has ‘suffered’ upon this beautiful celestial rock from the very first press of our toes upon its clay. Today’s world has problems, for sure. Yesterday’s world did too. Tomorrow’s world will again. I am not advocating a manifesto for nihilism and negativity.
These examples though, they do ask me to face my conscience.
I, like you, hear these stories and immediately feel powerless - how can I change society? How could I have prevented the heartless social-care law? How could I have reached out to a remote celebrity in their London penthouse? Indeed, how?
But if not me, then who? Who is responsible? What is society? Who are the anonymous ‘they’ that we all come to point the accusing finger at?
Society is not separate from us; it is not some alien overlord. We are society, the actions we take, the words we say, write and print – and choose to read. This is who ‘society’ is. It is you. It is me.
So, we begin with what we have. What I have, what I know to be true within my experience is that love is all there is. It is the only thing that makes sense. That any intention that holds love within it, will be a good one and will turn out well in the long run.
Consider, however, what love is. Shall we be fooled into believing that love is only as portrayed within glamorous ‘rom-com’ films. Shall we be convinced that it is all about ‘rainbows’ and ‘light’ too?
I have an inkling love is not about always giving to others, at the sacrifice of your own needs. I have a theory love is a blaze, an immolating conflagration. A demanding discipline for action. It requires you to be a seeker - to evolve towards what you sense to be your higher self. My hunch is love points at our own loveless behaviour, our own dark corners of our hearts and asks us to resolve and accept these. I think love wants us to face our fear and shame and learn from them with the promise of a greater loving embrace when we do. Love asks us to consider the validity of our own respective churches – the quality of our own souls and how we represent our higher-selves in the here and now – before we pass judgement on others. This is what I suspect love is.
In my third book, the last, I believe, of the Beyond Veils series, I am focusing upon a character whose behaviour is recognisable to most of us; a highly successful paragon of modern society. I am exploring the darkness of his ‘church’. He was a character who featured in my first book, ‘The Point of Me, Beyond Veils, Book One’. When I first created him, I was interested only in portraying his ridiculousness. I wanted to parody him, mock him. It was useful to the story.
I was asked about this character back when the book came out; will you redeem him?
My answer back then was a firm ‘no’. I did not think that there was anything of long-term interest in this deliberately constructed slightly two-dimensional man. But inspiration had planned a different path for us both.
Within my conscience was a question about how ‘loveless-ly’ I had treated this character and if I was being fair to condemn him so thoroughly. The idea of how this character might be redeemed began to grow, and with it has come a greater personal exploration of what love is. Questions of what love might look and feel like. Of how she – for love is manifest as a female character in my book - might move this dark character to a point which means his soul is saveable.
For, perhaps, within even the darkest hearts there lies the original spark of divinity that is always worthy of love. There are good reasons why this character has chosen to deny love. His story is of how love refuses to be denied by him, how it forces him to see the reasons behind the life choices he has made and how they have constructed his current circumstances and his future states. Love will show him how he may be saved and be returned to the divinity that love is.
As the song goes… “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”.
Imagine if we were all schooled in these ways and if we all celebrated being loving over and above having power or control. Imagine what a love-full society we all would be.
Rachel x
P.S. I have recently launched a pod-cast! Published on Apple Podcast - it is called "Letters from an Author" and features me, reading aloud these letters that I send to you, my subscribers, my friends. You can download and listen to the episodes - about 10 minutes or less per episode, because I know how busy we all are, HERE. I had great fun recording them, I hope you enjoy listening.
P.P.S. Talking of being busy - the third book of the Beyond Veils series is being readied for publication. I'm hoping for an early autumn date. If you would like to be part of a select group of people who get to read the book first, prior to the official publication date then you can apply to join my "Advanced Reader Group". Just reply to this email and we can chat about what that means.
P.P.P.S Would you consider writing a review for my second book, The Truth of Her, Beyond Veils, Book 2? It is approaching the 1st anniversary of its publication date and it would be a wonderful "birthday" gift for me (and it!). If you have finished reading The Truth of Her - or are getting close to - maybe you would consider letting me, and other potential readers, know what you thought of it by writing up a quick Amazon review (this is the third most helpful thing you can do for my writing career, just behind buying the book and reading the book!). Click here to be taken straight to the Amazon page.
It was lovely because of the reason she cried; in lament of how loveless a society we reside in. It was a powerful demonstration of heartfelt human compassion, unusual enough to make headlines.
She was focused upon one particular aspect of what it seems is a constant background thrum of our society’s general 'loveless-ness' - she campaigned about a particular piece of social-care law, citing how this had caused some of her constituents to take their own lives. She wept when she read their names out, no doubt because as she did so, she recalled the individuals, invoked their lost humanity. Named them. Specific, real, actual once-here people. Mourned their vulnerability against a faceless, unloving society which had acted in such a manner that made these individuals feel they had no option but to leave, in the most permanent way possible.
A few weeks earlier to this politician’s tears, there was news of a celebrity’s untimely death by suicide. A so called successful, beautiful, ‘got-it-all’ kind of woman who had decided that she no longer wished to suffer her ‘success’. Not if, apparently, it meant she was condemned to feel as judged, vulnerable and discarded as it was reported she did.
I don’t generally buy into the idea that ‘everything is going to hell in a handcart’ or listen to the fear-selling doomsayers who are fond of pronouncing that we live in the worst of times.
I think that humanity has ‘suffered’ upon this beautiful celestial rock from the very first press of our toes upon its clay. Today’s world has problems, for sure. Yesterday’s world did too. Tomorrow’s world will again. I am not advocating a manifesto for nihilism and negativity.
These examples though, they do ask me to face my conscience.
I, like you, hear these stories and immediately feel powerless - how can I change society? How could I have prevented the heartless social-care law? How could I have reached out to a remote celebrity in their London penthouse? Indeed, how?
But if not me, then who? Who is responsible? What is society? Who are the anonymous ‘they’ that we all come to point the accusing finger at?
Society is not separate from us; it is not some alien overlord. We are society, the actions we take, the words we say, write and print – and choose to read. This is who ‘society’ is. It is you. It is me.
So, we begin with what we have. What I have, what I know to be true within my experience is that love is all there is. It is the only thing that makes sense. That any intention that holds love within it, will be a good one and will turn out well in the long run.
Consider, however, what love is. Shall we be fooled into believing that love is only as portrayed within glamorous ‘rom-com’ films. Shall we be convinced that it is all about ‘rainbows’ and ‘light’ too?
I have an inkling love is not about always giving to others, at the sacrifice of your own needs. I have a theory love is a blaze, an immolating conflagration. A demanding discipline for action. It requires you to be a seeker - to evolve towards what you sense to be your higher self. My hunch is love points at our own loveless behaviour, our own dark corners of our hearts and asks us to resolve and accept these. I think love wants us to face our fear and shame and learn from them with the promise of a greater loving embrace when we do. Love asks us to consider the validity of our own respective churches – the quality of our own souls and how we represent our higher-selves in the here and now – before we pass judgement on others. This is what I suspect love is.
In my third book, the last, I believe, of the Beyond Veils series, I am focusing upon a character whose behaviour is recognisable to most of us; a highly successful paragon of modern society. I am exploring the darkness of his ‘church’. He was a character who featured in my first book, ‘The Point of Me, Beyond Veils, Book One’. When I first created him, I was interested only in portraying his ridiculousness. I wanted to parody him, mock him. It was useful to the story.
I was asked about this character back when the book came out; will you redeem him?
My answer back then was a firm ‘no’. I did not think that there was anything of long-term interest in this deliberately constructed slightly two-dimensional man. But inspiration had planned a different path for us both.
Within my conscience was a question about how ‘loveless-ly’ I had treated this character and if I was being fair to condemn him so thoroughly. The idea of how this character might be redeemed began to grow, and with it has come a greater personal exploration of what love is. Questions of what love might look and feel like. Of how she – for love is manifest as a female character in my book - might move this dark character to a point which means his soul is saveable.
For, perhaps, within even the darkest hearts there lies the original spark of divinity that is always worthy of love. There are good reasons why this character has chosen to deny love. His story is of how love refuses to be denied by him, how it forces him to see the reasons behind the life choices he has made and how they have constructed his current circumstances and his future states. Love will show him how he may be saved and be returned to the divinity that love is.
As the song goes… “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”.
Imagine if we were all schooled in these ways and if we all celebrated being loving over and above having power or control. Imagine what a love-full society we all would be.
Rachel x
P.S. I have recently launched a pod-cast! Published on Apple Podcast - it is called "Letters from an Author" and features me, reading aloud these letters that I send to you, my subscribers, my friends. You can download and listen to the episodes - about 10 minutes or less per episode, because I know how busy we all are, HERE. I had great fun recording them, I hope you enjoy listening.
P.P.S. Talking of being busy - the third book of the Beyond Veils series is being readied for publication. I'm hoping for an early autumn date. If you would like to be part of a select group of people who get to read the book first, prior to the official publication date then you can apply to join my "Advanced Reader Group". Just reply to this email and we can chat about what that means.
P.P.P.S Would you consider writing a review for my second book, The Truth of Her, Beyond Veils, Book 2? It is approaching the 1st anniversary of its publication date and it would be a wonderful "birthday" gift for me (and it!). If you have finished reading The Truth of Her - or are getting close to - maybe you would consider letting me, and other potential readers, know what you thought of it by writing up a quick Amazon review (this is the third most helpful thing you can do for my writing career, just behind buying the book and reading the book!). Click here to be taken straight to the Amazon page.
