A wise man by the name of Lenny Kravitz once said, “You’ve got to let love rule” and being the rule follower that I am, I follow this rule.
You see, from the time I can remember, I’ve always loved love. In fact, I would say that I am a creator of love. No no, this isn’t my version of “The Secret”, I mean like starting with Barbie and Ken. Love always prevailed no matter the scenario my little girl fantasy mind conjured up including;
War, as in Ken returning from war, often without a limb (I was a young girl during the 70’s – Viet Nam)
Temptation, in the form of another woman, Skipper
Poverty in the form of only having a Kleenex box for a bed
Vanity in the form a failed beauty shop visit at the hands of my 8-year old cosmetology skills.
Love Always Prevails.
I was thinking about love throughout the decades of my life
In the 1960’s we were told to smile on each other and love one another right now.
In the 1970’s we were told that love would keep us together
In the ’80s love was, well…endless
In the ’90s things continued to stay on the up and up because you loved me (Strangely past tense but what ev)
In the early 2000’s we even found love in a hopeless place.
In 2019, LinkedIn introduced additional “Reactions” including the heart indicating “Love to express deep resonance and support”
Scientists still have not 100% figured out love (who knows if they ever will!), but research has revealed that love triggers chemical reactions in the brain that make us feel a range of emotions and experience physical symptoms ranging from increased heartbeat to those traditional “butterflies” in the stomach.
–Branscape.com
As a corporate mindfulness facilitator, I invite people to explore the practice of mindfulness not only to help cultivate a greater sense of wellbeing including stress reduction, resilience and focus, I also help people learn to use the practice as a foundation for self-awareness which involves mindfulness of body sensations, feelings tones and thoughts and the way our minds construct meaning to really see how we are being in real-time.
Let’s use my friend Carol Campos as an example. Carol is a life coach who incorporates storytelling telling and metaphor with her messages about various subjects including finding our purpose, place and finding our unique gifts. Let’s say Carol posts something on LinkedIn, I read it and choose to practice self-awareness:
- I sense my physical sensation. Upon reading Carol’s post, I feel energy in the area of my heart and I smile.
- I sense the feeling tone is pleasant. There are only three feeling tones, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral.
- I observe my thoughts and think, “This is very interesting and I understand how this pertains to my life”
- I get in touch with what the thoughts means, “I love this”
What usually happens next is I comment and click on the heart reaction.
So here’s a question, how are you deciding when to use the “like” reaction and when to use “love” reaction? Do you actually think about it? Are you hesitant to use it?
I ask this question because somehow I believe that many of us withhold “love” in the context of work or anything business-related and yet in the next instant, we find ourselves eating a cookie or drinking a glass of wine, and unabashedly expressing, “OMG! I love this”.
As noted earlier, I always loved love and when I reflect of the best mentors I ever had in my life, they include two of my former managers, Linda McNairy and Dan Marks, I think of them not only with tremendous respect but also LOVE. (I love you, Dan and Linda, if you are reading this)
Can you imagine what it would be like if we were really able to sense into the love that we feel and actually express it? Can you imagine how expansive, inclusive, connecting, nurturing, compassionate, empowering, and inviting it would be?
We hear about so many people feeling so disconnected, stressed and marginalized at work. What would it feel like to show a little love?
I would like to express my LOVE for you, for your content that expands my heart, makes it smile, sing, sometimes cry…
A wise man, Lenny Kravitz once said,
Love transcends all space and time
And love can make a little child smile
Oh can’t you see
This won’t go wrong
But we got to be strong
We can’t do it alone
We got to let love rule
Shelley, I love you and this post! It is such a delightful read this morning. I have been using the love button more these days because if something moves me, then I want the person to know it. So between the love button and leaving a comment, I try to spread a little love myself. I do think about it, however, especially on LI because of the business aspect. But, we need more love – even in the workplace – so I’m not afraid to show it.
Thanks for sharing your sunshine, Shelley!
Laura, I love you and your comment. Thanks for posting here and on LI. I agree, if something moves me, I want the other person to know it. Have no feat! Love is here! Thanks for letting love rule and for your heartfelt comment.
I “love” your article, Shelley! It’s really making me think! I AM conscious of when I click like vs heart. I couldn’t necessarily articulate it in that moment, but I know the feeling evoked in me. And love IS appropriate at work, in a variety of ways. It’s funny how for many of us, the word makes us back away.
I wrote an article several years ago, titled, “Confession: I’m in Love With My Client.” I went on to describe how I LOVE my clients’ potential, progress, and willingness to change. I actually feel a flutter in my chest and a little “swoony” sometimes. What your post is inspiring me to do, Shelley, is to check on HOW I’m showing this love, and how I would. Thank you!
Mary, you always inspire me to thiunk even more. I was always such a “girly-girly”, pink everything… and hearts were always part of that however; selecting a heart for the heart-expanding content isn’t like putting a cute sticker on something. As you said, “I AM conscious of when I click like vs. heart” and I know for many, the notion and feeling of “Love” is difficult in all areas of life. I think so many of us are becoming so much more self-aware and intentional as well as conscious of the way things make us feel first, followed by the way things make us think. Our bodies never lie to us. Thankfully, we get to express if we feel it ❤️and pop it into others lives. Thanks friend!
Love is something that cannot be defined. Love means so many different things to so many people. Scientists are ill-equipped to figure out what love is. One thing about the word love is that it is the most beautiful word in the English language.
I concur with you Joel! Thanks for commenting. ❤️
You are welcome, Shelley.
YES! Sometimes with my band I demand love from people, and that seems to work “put a little love in your heart.”
I’ve been saying for years that love is easy, like is hard, so, technically, it should be easier for us to click the heart button than the like button, right? But it’s not, because that would demonstrate a level of vulnerability that’s uncomfortable (or self-awareness in the face of knowing the difference and being intentional about the use of each button.)
Love will keep us together, for sure, Shelley Brown, and when it’s really intense, “comes love, nothing can be done.” (That one is far too old to work with your decade theme.) https://youtu.be/6FrwC0TsIvE
Billie Holiday!!! Yes, please! No matter the decade❤️ Thanks for popping her into my day today! Love is easy and I totally agree there’s such a level of vulnerability even just to click that button. Wouldn’t it be interesting if there were no buttons? How vulnerable would people have to be to actually comment intentionally? Oleg and I were disucussing this last night. I’m glad there is a love button on LI! Love will keep us together if that’s our intention ❤️