I love music, especially in the form of songs. I often choose a theme song at the beginning of my day.
Theme songs can range from Ms. LaBelle singing about the acquisition of a “New Attitude”, Kristeen Young’s electronic “Fantastic Failure”, Rob Zombie’s guttural “American Witch”, Kate Pearson’s soulful “Pulls You Under”, a toe-tapper like the GoGo’s classic “Vacation”, or a sensual rendition of “Blues in the Night” by Katie Melua….the list goes on and on…so many songs that capture different emotions and moods.
A few weeks ago, I downloaded Lizzo’s new album “Cuz I Love You”; I continue to enjoy the entire album. I was struck by one particular line from the lyrics of the title song, “I thought I was love-impaired”. The first time I heard it, I nodded in agreement and continued to enjoy the rhyme. Then, as a therapist often does (job hazard), I kept thinking about that particular line…as it applies to me, my clients, and society as a whole. Are we all, in some way, “love-impaired”?
The answer came by way of an Instagram post from Sonya Renee Taylor (author of “The Body is Not an Apology”), “I want people to stop publishing these articles and posts that say love and self love is not the answer. The reason it ain’t the answer is not because love is failing. The issue is not Love. The issue is these impotent ass definitions we’ve been floating around for love. No wonder we are in shitty romantic relationships, dysfunctional parent/child dynamics, abusive sibling, co-worker relationships. Cause you been practicing a “love” that demands nothing. You’ve been accepting a noun kind of love. You don’t even know what the verb kind looks like. Love as ACTION as CHANGE as TRANSFORMATION can shift the entire world. LOVE applied to ourselves and then to the larger planet ABSOLUTELY can transform individuals and topple structures. The issue isn’t love. The issue is that you’ve been practicing a love that don’t ask for shit, so it ain’t getting shit.”
That is one grammar lesson this self-proclaimed grammar geek is taking to heart. What about you – – do you want the noun or verb kind of love in your life?
sonyareneetaylor. (2019, June 5). I want people [Instagram post]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/ByW5V26A3AL/
