Ignition
It turns out that a lot of the metaphorical imagery to be found in this book is used to describe love. The good thing is that the metaphors do not keep simply reiterating the exact same idea:
“The light of love is always in us, no matter how cold the flame. It is always present, waiting for the spark to ignite, waiting for the heart to awaken and call us back to the first memory of being the life force inside a dark place waiting to be born—waiting to see the light.”
The Downside
Here’s another not-so-big surprise waiting inside this tome: love has a downside. Not to suggest that the fairy tales and Hollywood are completely making it up on the upside, but the downside doesn’t need movies and literature to sell on its existence:
“Knowing love or the hope of knowing love is the anchor that keeps us from falling into that sea of despair.”
Greeting Card Philosophy
The thing about metaphor and love is that it becomes really easy to construct imagery that is questionable from the perspective of logic. Adages and proverbial wisdom very often cannot stand up to the scrutiny of closer inspection, but when the subject is love, the flimsiness of the whole concept really comes into stark relief:
“Our collective fear of death is a disease of the heart. Love is the only cure.”
Obscenity
The book begins with a quote from Diane Ackerman on the subject of how modern society has come to view the entire idea of love. And it is a not a good look for something everything seems to constantly be searching for:
“As a society we are embarrassed by love. We treat it as if it were an obscenity.”
Love and Marketing
One of the reasons that the concept of love has undergone such a major transformation in modern society is that it has become just another commodity to be packaged and sold. Advertising and media representations can shape one’s views to the point that a crooked snake oil salesman is seen as a savior by millions and Applebee’s is considered a food service establishment by dozens. So why shouldn’t it twist one’s view of love?
“Keeping people in a constant state of lack, in perpetual desire, strengthens the marketplace economy. Lovelessness is a boon to consumerism. And lies strengthen the world of predatory advertising.”
