Life Is Love

Recently, for some reason, I've been feeling as if I am surrounded by pessimistic people, who believe that the world is full of hate and that mankind is doomed because of it. Whether it's people I know, some talking head on TV, or a blog, I keep coming across predictions of thermonuclear war, global warming, or some other man made catastrophe. Many of the arguments I hear are based on fear: if we don't do this, some thing will happen, and if we do that, some other thing will happen. And while the reasoning behind this may be to fire up a sense of urgency, I believe that for many people, fear is ultimately paralyzing.

Even though I agree that there is a lot to be cynical about in this world, I have come to the conclusion that we would be better off if we weren't afraid so much, because if we look at life in terms of love and hate, at the end of the day love trumps hate hands down. I understand that what I am about to write will sound corny to some, but it is my way of countering these feelings of doom and despair which are so pervasive nowadays and which sometimes can put us in a state of paralysis instead of motivating us to act.

To start, I'd like to put whatever negative thing I can think of under the single umbrella word hate. For example and in no particular order: war, murder, usury, deceit, greed, fear, and jealousy, can all be considered pretty hateful things. For this reason, we can say that most things that people consider to be despicable, are in the end some expression, or facet, of the same hate.

Lets take this a step further and find a noun that can best symbolize hate. Personally, the first word I come up with when I think about hate is death. More specifically, the type of death that is directly and purposefully caused by another human being, such as in the case of premeditated murder or war; in other words, the type of death that is preventable and unnecessary.

Now that we have found a word to symbolize hate, can we find a word to define its opposite, love, that is equally and transcendentally powerful as death is? Life, you got it. And this is the gist of my argument: that love is life, and that life trumps death hands down.

And how is that? Well, just look around.

Life surrounds us: people, animals, plants, you name it. We actually have to constantly fight in order not to be run over by other organisms, be it other people, weeds, pests, or bacteria. Basically, every life form on earth is in a constant struggle to preserve itself and this fact alone, I believe, should be enough to prove my point.

Like life, love will fight to exist and affirm itself and it will grow in a desert if there is even a single a drop of water; it will flourish in the darkest depths of the oceans as long as there is some kind of chemical reaction to support it; and if unable to thrive, it will hibernate for eons until it can find the conditions to germinate once more.

So, next time someone tells you that there is too much hate in the world and that humans are doomed because of it, just ask them to take a look around and truly pay attention. And this is not to say that the world is the way it should be and that we should do nothing to alleviate people's misery. On the contrary, if we believe that love is life, we must affirm love in our daily lives by refusing to fuel the hateful cycles that create so much suffering in the world.

Because if life is love, then all aspects and acts of love such as compassion, respect, nurturing, and empathy are life. And if love is life, then all aspects of life such as birth, growth, and survival should be seen as acts of love. Ultimately, the simple fact that I am still here writing this blog, and that you are still here reading it, is proof enough that hate, thus far, has failed to overcome love.

But even if we do end up extinguishing ourselves with some foolish or careless act of hate, life will eventually take root again. If not here on earth, it will somewhere else in the universe; and if not in this universe, it will in some other universe, if we are to believe the most recent multiverse theories. In the end, and regardless of our fate as a species, life's enduring resilience is a testament to how powerful, obstinate, and patient love can be.

Life is love.