We really liked the recent post from Just One Thing on the practice of “giving love.” It resonated with research on how helping others (altruism) improves your mood, and also on the data that shows that one of the most effective antidotes for depression is to systematically try to act more in line with your deepest values.
The post is connected to the Buddhist practice of lovingkindness and to the early Christian views on the importance of caring for others, as well as the Jewish notion of khesed (חסד). In other words, it is a practically universal religious or spiritual value.
Why we like this post, though, is that it is profoundly practical. It is about how and why to give love to others.
In our forum I have reflected on the dilemma of Valentine’s day – how to make it a day that doesn’t just celebrate the
“haves” and make the “have nots” feel worse. We think that the practice of giving love may hold an answer. If we focus on giving rather than receiving love as the main celebration of Valentine’s day perhaps we can resolve that dilemma.
Here is the link for those of you who are intrigued….