“To absorb what the new science of love has to offer, you’ll need to step back from ‘love’ as you may now know it. Forget about the love you typically hear on the radio, the one that’s centered on desire and yearns for touch from a new squeeze. Set aside the take on love your family might have offered you, one that requires that you love your relatives unconditionally, regardless of whether their actions disturb you, or their aloofness leaves you cold. I’m even asking you to set aside your view of love as a special bond or relationship, be it with your spouse, partner, or soul mate. And if you’ve come to view love as a commitment, promise, or pledge, through marriage or any other loyalty ritual, prepare for an about-face. I need you to step back from all of your preconceptions and consider an upgrade. Love 2.0 offers a different perspective—your body’s perspective. …
Love is our supreme emotion: Its presence or absence in our lives influences everything we feel, think, do, and become. It’s that recurrent state that ties you in—your body and brain alike—to the social fabric, to the bodies and brains of those in your midst. When you experience love—true heart/mind/soul-expanding love—you not only become better able to see the larger tapestry of life and better able to breathe life into the connections that matter to you, but you also set yourself on a pathway that leads to more health, happiness, and wisdom.”
~ Barbara L. Fredrickson Ph.D. from Love 2.0
Ready to upgrade your vision of love?
Then you’re in for a treat with this fantastic book by Barbara Fredrickson. Barbara is one of the world’s leading positive psychologists. For the last two decades she has been exploring the science of positive emotions like joy, gratitude, amusement, and hope. She also must have the coolest lab name ever: the “Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab (aka PEP Lab)” at the University of North Carolina. :)
In her great book Positivity she walks us through how those positive emotions create upward spirals of flourishing in our lives via her “broaden-and-build” framework. In this book, she connects that science of emotions with the science of relationships to bring us this upgraded science of our supreme emotion: love.
The last Note we created was on The Myths of Happiness by another leading positive psychologist, Sonja Lyubomirsky. She says, “Read this book and you’ll never think about love in the same way again!” <— I agree.
The book is incredibly well-written, deeply inspiring and incredibly practical as well. In fact, I just told Alexandra that this book might be the one that most positively impacts my life. Needless to say, I *highly* recommend it. (Get a copy here.)
I’m excited to share some of my favorite Ideas so let’s jump straight in!
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