The Different Types of Love

The focus of the month of February is on love.  Love comes in many different forms.  If we can truly embrace all types of love, starting with the love of self, we can create days of happiness in which we are living fully.

There are eight types of love.  These are the first four:

Philautic: 

Philautic love is self-love. This type of love is the love of self, self-compassion, and self-worth.  Loving yourself allows you to love others fully. Only when you can love yourself, truly accept yourself, and feel comfortable in your own skin, can you love others unconditionally. It is about showing yourself unconditional love and embracing who you are. What you would give to others, give to yourself first so you can freely love others and show up fully in the world.

Philia:

Philia love is affectionate love and deep friendship. This is the type of love between friends. It is a platonic love between equals who share a bond or experience; a connection of minds, loyalty, and deep, trusting friendship – a bond of shared respect. love 2552348 640

Ludus:

Ludus love is playful love. It is fun, flirtatious, and affectionate. This type of love is about the feelings we experience at the beginning of a relationship, when teasing, laughing and getting to know the other person. It encompasses feelings of infatuation, making you feel excited, giddy, and alive. 

Eros:

Eros love is about passion, desire, romance, and attraction. It is the exciting, thrilling, and powerful experiences at the beginning stages of a relationship. Eros is a passionate, intense, primal love that brings out romantic and sexual feelings. This type of love runs hot but burns out fast. While thrilling, Eros needs to be combined with other types of love, or transform itself, to create a lasting relationship.

Recognizing the form of love present in your relationships is the beginning of creating healthy relationships with self and others.

What type of love are you experiencing most in your life?

Many Blessing
Santa

 

 

 

RUNNING THROUGH DARKNESS
MEMOIR OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

BY SANTA MOLINA-MARSHALL ‧ RELEASE DATE: MAY 3, 2022

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022