Love: The Essential Energy
Love Is a Universal Force!
Albert Einstein’s profound insights about love as a universal force resonate deeply with our lived experiences. Love is not just an abstract concept but an energy—one that sustains and nourishes us in ways similar to the basic necessities of air, food, and water. Yet, in our modern culture, we often undervalue its significance and fail to recognize the true depth of its impact on our well-being.
Love as a Life-Sustaining Energy
Research highlights the remarkable ways our bodies and minds respond to the deprivation of life’s essentials. Without food, it takes about 3-4 days for our bodies to feel the physical pain of hunger. Without water, the pain sets in after 2-3 days. Without air, survival becomes impossible in just 1-2 minutes. But love? Love is so fundamental to our existence that its absence can be felt in mere seconds. The pain of being deprived of love—whether through loss, rejection, or loneliness—is immediate and often profound.
This understanding is supported by years of research, including studies registered at the Library of Congress in 2003, which conclude that love is nourishment. Like air, food, and water, love is essential to our survival and thriving. When we lose love—whether through the death of a loved one, a broken relationship, or isolation—the resulting grief is not just emotional but deeply physical. Our bodies and minds react because they are starved of something essential.
The Cultural Misunderstanding of Grief
Despite this, our culture often sends a dangerous message to those grieving: “Move on.” Unspoken but implied is the expectation to do so quickly because prolonged grief makes others uncomfortable. This pressure to “get over it” denies the reality that love, like nourishment, cannot be replaced or ignored without consequences.
Would we tell someone starving to “just move on” without addressing their need for food? Would we dismiss the struggles of someone gasping for air? The answer is, unequivocally, no. Yet, we often apply this logic to love, expecting people to recover from its absence as though it is less vital than the other energies that sustain us.
Grace and Time for Healing
If you are grieving the loss of love—whether it’s the loss of a partner, a family member, or even a friendship—give yourself the grace to feel the pain and the time to heal. The energy of love doesn’t simply disappear. It lingers, seeking a new way to be expressed or transformed. Just as the body needs time to recover from starvation or dehydration, the heart and mind need time to process the deprivation of love. This is not a weakness; it’s a natural, human response to an essential loss.
Love’s Lasting Energy
The beauty of love as an energy is that it doesn’t truly end. Energy, as science teaches us, is neither created nor destroyed but transformed. The love you shared with someone doesn’t vanish with their absence. Instead, it shifts—into memories, actions, or even new connections. It’s through this transformation that love continues to nourish us, even in the shadow of grief.
This transformation, however, takes time. If you’re finding it difficult to “move on,” remember that overcoming the deprivation of love is as monumental as overcoming the deprivation of any other life-sustaining energy. Healing doesn’t have a timeline, and there’s no “right” way to process loss. Honor your need for love as you would honor your need for air, food, or water.
A Call to Compassion
As a society, we need to shift our understanding of love and grief. Instead of rushing others to “get over it,” we should offer compassion and patience. Just as we provide nourishment to those who are hungry or water to those who are thirsty, we must nourish those who are grieving with kindness, understanding, and presence.
Love is more than an emotion; it’s an essential energy that sustains life. By embracing this truth, we can not only honor the power of love but also create a culture that truly supports healing and growth. If you are grieving, take heart: the energy of love remains with you, waiting to be rediscovered and transformed. Give yourself grace, and in time, love will find its way back into your life—as a force of healing, connection, and endless possibility.
I am a school counselor turned counselor educator, professor, and author helping educators and parents to build social, emotional, and academic growth in ALL kids! The school counseling blog delivers both advocacy as well as strategies to help you deliver your best school counseling program.
I'm a mother, grandmother, professor, author, and wife (I'll always be his). Until October 20, 2020, I lived with my husband, Robert (Bob) Rose, in Louisville, Ky. On that awful day of October 20,2020, my life profoundly changed, when this amazing man went on to be with Jesus. After Bob moved to Heaven, I embraced my love of writing as an outlet for grief. Hence, the Grief Blog is my attempt to share what I learned as a Counselor in education with what I am learning through this experience of walking this earth without him. My mission is to move forward with my own healing as well as to help others in grief move forward to see joy beyond this most painful time.
