2. How To Love | Thich Nhat Hanh
Buy this teeny, weeny but delightful book here.
Friends,
I’ve spent almost all of the last 21 months of the covid pandemic unravelling and unlearning some deeply held toxic beliefs on love. Parental love, friendship love, romantic love, the love I used to feel for my adopted country, the lack of love I had for myself on many levels. This book found me this year, just as she was meant to 🤗
From the official book release:
“How to Love shows that when we feel closer to our loved ones, we are also more connected to the world as a whole. Nhat Hanh brings his signature clarity, compassion and humour to the thorny question of how to love and distils one of our strongest emotions down to four essentials: you can only love another when you feel true love for yourself; love is understanding; understanding brings compassion; and deep listening and loving speech are key ways of showing our love.”
A few paragraphs that resonated as I read, re-read, dog-eared and underlined:
“To love without knowing how to love wounds the person we love.”
“LEARNING LOVE If our parents didn’t love and understand each other, how are we to know what love looks like? There aren’t courses or classes in love. If the grown-ups know how to take care of each other, then the children who grow up in this environment will naturally know how to love, understand, and bring happiness to others. The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness. Our parents may be able to leave us money, houses, and land, but they may not be happy people. If we have happy parents, we have received the richest inheritance of all.”
“Other people’s actions are the result of their own pain and not the result of any intention to hurt you.”
There are more of these powerful little books as part of a series: