"I'm in the Mood for Love" - Really Frank?

Normally, I experience myself as being level headed but that's not for me to judge! At any rate I see myself as reasonable, pragmatic and cool headed. I can hear the objections already! But 'Damn the torpedoes' I still have a lot to learn.

This I know for sure: During the years I was being treated for prostate cancer there were times I slithered down the slippery slope into bad mood episodes. Just ask Maureen! "Do you want to go to a movie?" My reply, "I don't give a shit." For some unknown reason I was not concerned as to where the cancer was leading me, rather, I hated the way the daily visits to the hospital for radiation treatment, the lack of energy, and hormone injections, were playing havoc with my active life style. It was especially ugly because it was summer time and the boats were in the water. I don't recollect being depressed, just pissed off!

I can think of at least 72 different moods!

Emotions and moods are rather difficult to define. One explanation is that an emotion is a person's state of mind and the instinctive response. Most of us have mood swings. Growing up is learning to deal with our emotions and moods. We often see mood swings in small children, but that is considered a developmental period in their young lives. (Hint, Hint.) But then again, we are all different as the snow-flake comparison illustrates.

But what about the emotion love, or better still, romantic love? We use the word love in so many ways, 'I loved the play, your dress, the trip, your hair, the dog, your attitude...' But obviously romantic love is something special and, historically speaking, rather new. The notion of romantic love, as we know it, dates back to 16th. Century England. Of course Pair-bonding goes back to the Stone Age! William M. Reddy (The History of Romantic Love) states that, "Before the Twelfth century, in Europe, love between men and women was not regarded as heroic; it was instead considered a sign of weakness, the preoccupation of a person without character." We know that emotional relationships are dissimilar and often depend on what culture  a person grows up in. In some places marriage is still for wealth or status. 'The wife' was considered property up until the late 19th. century...and still is in a few homes around town! Perhaps romantic love is not meant for everybody!

In ancient times 'agape' (love) was used to express spiritual sentiment or the love of God and, as for physical desire ('eros'), well that just was pure sexual lust!

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I like the cultural expression of romantic love because it makes it possible to find our place in the world and it satisfies the deep emotional need to connect to another person. It even  allows us to discover our own and true identity. Romantic love for most, gives a deeper meaning to their lives. 

And what is a Buddhist view of romantic love? "Because love is fragile and temporary it cannot protect us forever, but if we relax our grip it may bloom even better, allowing us to give and receive without encumbrance, frenzy, or fear, offering to each other our strength instead of our weakness." (A Buddhist View of Romantic Love)

So I'm with Frank Sinatra, and the dozens of others who sang this song with all their hearts, "I'm in the Mood for Love", especially Romantic love.

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week

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