UNCONDITIONAL LOVE – what is that?

 Over the Christmas break I was going through my collection of books to see how I could make a bit of room by donating the books I no longer needed or wanted to Vinnies or another such organisation. I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to be ruthless when it comes to such things. Perhaps the reason there now exists a profitable business in de-cluttering, is that there must be many, many people finding it hard to part with the stuff they have lovingly collected or accumulated over the years.

Back to the books! Yes, and as I was scanning the titles I came across an oldie by Erich Fromm, “The Art of Loving.” It had that read me vibe about it, so I took it off the shelf to read, or re-read to be exact, because I had read it many years ago.

In this book, Fromm speaks about all the different types of love; romantic love, motherly love, fatherly love, friendship love, love of God and so on. It captured my attention all over again! But isn’t love just love, you may well ask? If you love, you just love, right? Mmm…maybe yes, maybe no. Perhaps if we were able to distinguish the different forms of love we may be able to love more effectively…perhaps.

Some believe that in loving one person they couldn’t possibly love another, but why not? Surely love doesn’t have a limit? Well maybe limits is not the word, maybe conditions is more suitable.

 And so we then have to ask, “What is love without conditions?” I thought about this for a long time. I have a lot going on in my head most of the time and I need answers or the questions just keep coming back – like armies of minute entities knocking at my mind’s door asking if I have the answer yet. I have come to the conclusion that to love unconditionally one must over ride the human element of judgment, and the closest we come to this would have to be the love of a loving parent for their child. But this poses another question, what’s a loving parent?

To cut a long article short, re-visiting this subject at this point has re energised my enthusiasm and desire to write a children’s book; a book which can guide parents in raising their children according to their life purpose, natural talents and abilities.  

What started out to be an article on unconditional love has now turned into an interactive project. What would you want me to include in this book? What questions would you like answered – as a parent, as a sibling, as someone who cares about children and the future of humanity, what would you like me to include in this book? Post your questions or comments here. Feel free to use just your first name if you wish to remain mysteriously anonymous. OR you can email me using the email address via the contact page on the menu bar.