This morning I followed Neil Gaiman's "I love you." Twitter post to this blog: http://bit.ly/8Qsc in which the author asks that we all post to our social media circles three words: I love you.
I posted that I love you, I even found a a mural on a wall in Boise,ID that proved my love to you: http://twitpic.com/2u6m5
But are we misusing the word love, taking advantage of a word that still holds a charge. People used to be much more economical in the use of their words. Love was reserved for actual love. Awesome meant something that actually inspired awe, a feeling which would render you speechless, and incapable of uttering something like, "That is awesome!".
I'm not stingy with my love, I can give out a lot. I can love everything. But do I need to say it? All the time?
Should we be telling everyone that we "Love" everything when what we really mean is like a lot, or think is neat? Or should we save the word for special moments, moments when the feeling we have renders us speechless?
Maybe there is no word for love now that we are loving everything all the time.
"You'll love our new nachos!"
Really? Love? Speechless and all?
I believe in love, and expression, and that we are what we speak. The words we choose shape our beliefs and I would rather live in a world where we all love everything.
But I also love asking questions.
And I wonder if Love is subject to the law of diminishing returns?
That was actually part of why I didn't join in when I saw your tweet.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to love everything, but only if I can find a word that means more than love.
P.S., thanks for coming to St. Pete, FL. The show was great, and I'm very happy to have been introduced to your music.
I find your point poignantly expressed and wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments. I'm also glad to see that you think the same about the word awesome, because it is egregiously misused.
ReplyDeleteLets take back the words love and awesome!
I feel love for most everything but I do not love most everybody. I have a hard enough time with the word friend.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people but they are not all my friends. Some of the people I know I wish were my friends. Some of the people who think that I am their friend are over reaching with the word.
I like knowing people, there are som many interesting people to know. I like when some of them turn into friends. I like when those friendships turn into a genuine feeling of love.
I will now turn off my rambling switch.
I joined in with the love twittering, but I actually do love some of the people who are following me and I them (we know each other in RL)... I also love the idea of twitter, of connecting with people all around the world, but at the same time I hate it because it's addicting! Fine line!
ReplyDeleteI do think the word love is overused a lot, but also underused (if that's a word) as well. Like for instance it wouldn't hurt to tell a family member you love them for no reason... Even a friend... Or a husband to his wife not just so he can a leg over that night or vice versa!
There is some sort of hype going one where a thing isn't just (just!) good anymore but has to be labeled things like super or awesome (and equally, things aren't just "bad" or "disappointing" but some other hyped equivalent)
ReplyDeleteHave we inhaled too many spices and lost our more delicate senses of taste for life? Have we become so blunt that we have lost our sensitivity for finer feelings?
Bah.
(Followed you here from Twitter, by the way)
Yeah, I did the love thing on most of my social networking sites, and I did do a lot of thinking about it too. While talking about it with my friends this evening I said something along the lines of we don't say "I love you" enough, but it is very easy to say it too much. I really enjoyed the idea of spreading the love across the internet social web thingies, especially when they can get bitter sometimes, and I liked the idea that it was in memory of Dr. King. Also, when I got a tweet saying that someone loved me, it made me smile, even though I knew it wasn't that speechless, head over heals kind, it still felt good to hear it. Needy relationship partners aside, I think it's always a good thing to hear =)
ReplyDeleteMike McGee takes "like" to it's logical end
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SvQy77Rde0
"I believe in love, and expression, and that we are what we speak."
ReplyDeleteTHIS! :)
And, I know it sounds ridiculous but I try and say "I love you" everytime I hang up with my friends/family on the phone, and sometimes I accidentally say it to strangers or aquaintences.
There have yet to be negative results.
But I agree, there's no need to say "I love it" when all you really mean is "it's really good"
When I was taking Italian I told my teacher (in italian) that I loved my cat and she got all big eyes and then explained that in Italy if I said that I would get many odd stares because the word "love" for a pet was far too passionate. They are sure to only like their pets and their food and their objects.
I always thought that was really interesting.