Love

We all think we know love. Of course we do. It’s one of those innate emotions that we are all blessed with by our Creator, making it the most basic of human emotions. One of the sweetest sounds that you can ever hear is the cooing of a baby looking up in love at the parent. The season of spring ushers love in perhaps the most natural way. The sight and sounds of life starting afresh, stir the heart and the mind; the cooing of pigeons in love, the mew of the mini kitties, the soft woofs of the pups, the gentle bleating of the lambs…the fresh sprigs of green wonder spring in from the earth, the pop of colour blooming around. It is Mother Nature, doing what a mother does, setting us up for the challenges of the year with warm fuzziness and happiness. Sprinkling bits and pieces of beautiful love brimming with promise here, there and everywhere.

Love is also a warm mug of coffee, warming the body inside out. Love is a bite of chocolate, made just right to release the happy hormones. Aah the happy hormones… Our creator clearly comprehended as he created us… how often we would require a high sans the “stuff” not encouraged. Or perhaps he was aware of our struggles each day and gave us a natural mechanism to cope with all that and more. And thus the totally marvellous “Happy Hormones” were placed in our neurological wonder. Not being a biology buff, always assumed that the happy hormones were just what the name suggests. There is more to them than just the name, there are four kinds of happy hormones endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. Apparently they aren’t all real hormones, but more like neurotransmitters sending happy signals to and fro. Each one of them serving a specific agenda which altogether work to keep us uplifted and carrying on. Endorphins function like natural paracetamol masking our pain to keep us kicking. Chasing the blues, serotonin has got your back. The dope on dopamine is that feeling of satisfaction you get after having achieved what you set out for. The fuzziness and mushiness of a warm hug comes courtesy our “love hormone”, oxytocin. (It is an actual hormone out of the four happy hormones.)So the four working together work as nature’s natural healing for our troubled minds and souls. How convenient that actually is but above all isn’t our body a wonderful work of art by Our creator? Love functions like the real fuel to our machines, called Homo sapiens.

Where that “love” disappears as the seasons pass on is a wonder! Our sensitivities, despite the abundance of language to express, are boxed into compartments that we deem as the end all of those feelings. It is like living believing the myth of the World being flat. Out beyond our ideas of a horizon, lies this great circle called Life, wherein a progressive rediscovery of our emotions goes on. The discovery of passions hitherto undiscovered. The discovery of ideas hitherto unthought-of by our minds, which are capable of so much more if we only try a little bit more. The realisation that what goes around comes back around.

In all spheres of life, there is one or the other form of love; sometimes known, sometimes unknown, sometimes apparent, sometimes enigmatic. One such enigmatic love is the Love our Creator holds for us. Religiously speaking, in Arabic one of the attributes of God is Al Wadud-the most loving. It is said that the love of Al-Wadud is more than any mother could ever love her child. And this love manifests itself in every single thing that we say or do. Look around, these eyes that you are looking around with, this neurological wonder making you think and make connections, your existence are all evidences of God’s love for you. God loves you so much, that this world and all its things were created so that you could benefit and live comfortably. The innumerable variety of our sustenance, the plethora of beauty in nature, things around us that you didn’t even know existed. The mysteries of the ocean to the mystique of the sky, it’s a wonderful world out there.

When you really love someone, don’t we go all out? Promise the stars and the moon and what not. So why wouldn’t our Creator who loves us more than any could ever, do even more? Our Creator, in the “love” for us created this exquisite world with all its wonderfulness that we are still discovering.

So shouldn’t we reciprocate that love? And exactly how you may wonder is that possible, well, its simple, give some love back. Share a moment with family or friends, light up someone’s dark life with your wonderful smile. Share the joy of trust, benevolence and courage. Let someone trust you to be there for them. Share your privileged life with someone not so privileged. Build the courage to stand up for what you believe in, the courage to brave the winter of life, the courage to repel the forces of evil and maliciousness.

Let us help to make this world a little warmer, a little better for you and for me and the entire human race.

SpiritualZen