One is Surrounded by Love

I thought everyone would enjoy this passage from one of Doc’s books:

Lovingness is a way of relating to the world. It is a generosity of attitude that expresses itself in seemingly small but powerful ways. It is a wish to bring happiness to others, to brighten their day and lighten their load. To merely be friendly and complimentary to everyone one meets in the course of a day is revealing. That this is not a commonplace attitude is revealed by people’s responses when they encounter it. Often, they respond with surprise or even a pleased state of shock. “Nobody ever compliments what I do; they only complain,” is a remark that will be heard. Most people, because they are focused on their own wants and critical attitudes, apparently do not even see the positive aspects of life and cannot respond to them. They take others’ service for granted with the explanation, “Well, they’re getting paid for it, aren’t they?” (Which is really beside the point.)

Major segments of society operate on the level of lovelessness. Giant corporations and government agencies can only be described as dourly functioning. Gratitude does not appear nor is it even considered to be socially appropriate. Love is belittled as ‘touchy-feely’. Love is therefore socially restricted to romance, mothers and their children, or one’s dog. Expressed elsewhere, it becomes an embarrassment. There are a few masculine areas where love is okay, such as for family, sports, one’s country, or a car.

The large area of life that is socially acceptable and open to everyone is that which is called ‘caring’. To ‘care for’ is a wide open avenue for the expression and expansion of love. People say they can’t find love as though it were something to be gotten. Once one becomes willing to give love, the discovery quickly follows that one is surrounded by love and merely didn’t know how to access it. Love is actually present everywhere and its presence only needs to be realized. 

From: “The Eye of the I: From Which Nothing is Hidden” (2002), Chapter 15: Clarifications, pp. 226–227