In All About Love bell hooks explains the definition of love and how it has changed over time in society. Hooks argues that true love is a feeling and commitment to care for yourself and your partner. She also points out that affection does not define the meaning of love. Google defines love as “an instant feeling of deep affection.” Hook hints that we sometimes tend to define love in a romantic form and proposes that one may have such feelings within a context that is not sexual.
“Learning faulty definitions of love when we are young makes it difficult to be loving as we grow older. We start committed to the right path but go in the wrong direction. Most of us learn early on to think of love as a feeling. when we feel deeply drawn to someone, we cathect with them, that is, we invest feelings or emotion in them”
The quote above is true for me because of my personal experience. I relate to this quote because while growing up I confused affection for love. I also became attached to a significant other at a very young age and was too young to understand the definition of love. This reading helped me realize that what I had gone through was common and made me reflect on how differently you think as you grow older. Furthermore, hooks explains genuine love is a commitment to support and care for one another rather than only emotions. She questions the idea that love is only romantic or sexual and stresses the importance of loving oneself.
Place by Robert Root also talks about being here in the world once before and describes how nature brings him calm and makes him comfortable. For example, “I've been here before. I have had these feelings, I have moved into these landscapes, I have been lost in my longing to be in these places… I have escaped my kind, evaded my obligation, eluded the pursuit of my anxieties.” Nature brings love to him by making him feel at home and satisfied, and it brings warmth. Root reminds us of spiritual love, while “All About Love” reminds us of communal love. These readings make me question why humans usually think of love by loving someone else and not by thinking about what also brings us comfort such as nature.
Overall, “All About Love” serves as a powerful reminder of love when it's practiced authentically. This book encouraged me to rethink what love is. It helps readers rethink our relationships, and it also helps us think about how we could change ourselves for the better by loving others.
I was inspired to reflect on All About Love because it reminded me about values and morals. The process of reading this book was really interesting; the more you read the more there is to understand and learn about yourself because bell hooks approach love as prioritizing respect, mutual support, and communication.