A New Way to Look at Love

“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own

or another’s spiritual growth.”

M. Scott Peck

In Bell Hooks’ thoughtful book All About Love, she offers a deep look at love in our culture--stating that in many ways we live in a loveless society. The idea of living without love is sad to hear, but inspires hope if we can all begin to agree on a definition of what love really is.

After much searching for a meaningful definition of love, Ms. Hooks landed on one that gives us a fresh look at love. The quote above is the definition that M. Scott Peck (author of The Road Less Traveled) created. It’s worth another read: “Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”

In Mr. Peck’s definition, he includes one’s whole being in the word spiritual: mental, emotional and physical, as well as spiritual. Imagine consciously using your will to extend yourself for the purpose of your own or another’s mental, emotional or spiritual growth. This definition really gives you something to grab ahold of!

Ms. Hooks goes on to say that if we truly see love as an action more than just a feeling--we will experience love in deeper ways.

What do you think of this definition? How does it fit with your own?