WHAT IS LOVE?

After posting my last week’s newsletter, I received a response from one of my readers, who wrote: “Wise advice that I will try.” He referred to this passage of my letter: “in any conflict, if I feel upset about anyone, I should mentally connect this person’s image with my heart. Since then, every time I’ve been doing so, I am able to let go being upset. And then the only feeling left in my heart is love”. I feel this is a very important message and therefore I also posted it on Facebook.

But what is love? The description I found online was very dry and did not say much. The word “love” has many meanings, and people use it all the time to express their feelings. There is a belief that what we feel comes from our heart. And there is plenty of space to contain Love. I recently listened to a presentation on YouTube with an American author Kurt Vonnegut, when he was 81. He died in 2007 at the age of 84. The presentation was very funny, and he shared how he was in love with his typist, with whom his only connection was through mailing her his typed pages. Another woman he said he loved, was a postal clerk, whom he only met bringing his mail to the post office. It was difficult to tell how serious he was, since he was married.

All of us can express love in different ways and not only to people. Recently, I fell in love again as well. During our Sunday Walk in Golden Gate Park with our labradoodle Max, I encountered Dahlia. To call her beautiful, would be an understatement. I was not allowed to touch her, only to look. She was not alone but surrounded by equally beautiful companions. While photographing these beautiful flowers, my heart was filled with joyful love.

One of the important lessons that I’ve learned from the master-photographers, was that if you want to make a great image, photograph what you see with your heart. The eyes are only the lens. I hope that the three images of Dahlias serve as a testimony to this rule. And if you feel you need more love in your heart or want to share it with a friend, please buy my latest book “42 Encounters with Love”. You can do it by reaching me directly – mannykagan@comcast.net.

I am grateful in advance and will sign each book. The price is $24.00, which includes tax and shipping.

Enjoy and share with a friend!