What is Love?
One of the songs I originally wrote for my musical Tsarina is What is Love? The song was cut in the world premiere of the musical, as many songs are when musicals evolve to the stage. (As a matter of interest, eighty songs were originally written for the classic musical My Fair Lady) However, What is Love? is still on the original Tsarina cast album and has been recorded several times on other projects. *(see below) Even though What is love? did not make the world premiere stage version, the message of the song still fits within the beautiful, yet tragic love story of Nicholas and Alexandra of Imperialistic Russia.
Nicholas and Alexandra were two young lovers and future leaders totally unprepared for the task of leading a country rife with strife and dissent. There was intense division, fear and threat to the life they imagined they would live as a couple. As seen from love letters they wrote to each other almost daily, they married for love, not just position, which was unusual for the time in which they lived.
Unhealthy Fear
After marrying and having four daughters, their only son, and future heir, was disabled with hemophilia. What is love now had a whole new meaning in their family. Alexandra’s intense love, devotion and fear attributed to the growth of her vulnerability. It was her acceding to adverse influence that would eventually destroy their whole family. Rasputin, or Grigory as he is called in the musical, was able to gain influence with Alexandra because she feared for her son’s life and took desperate measures to give up control to a questionable source, self-called a Holy Man.
Unhealthy fear invites desperate moves and choices. It’s why quick and unwise financial decisions are made. Decisions about important business matters are made in haste because of anxiety, nervousness and greed. Unhealthy fear acts as a virus, with unsolicited messages of doom and gloom repeating over and over, causing even more panic. That type of fear is a way your brain can be hacked with a harmful mindset. (For this reason, I wrote the book Bad Code: Overcoming Bad Mental Code That Sabotages Your Life
Freedom to Love Yourself
Now that I look over the lyrics I wrote for the song What is love? I see how they can go so much deeper that what I originally penned. True love and devotion includes much more than the beginnings of sweet surrender and the fuel of emotion. True love includes sacrifice, commitment and forgiveness to weather the pressures and events that life brings. True love also includes loving yourself. To love yourself is to guard your mind from the effects of unhealthy fear, anxiety, panic and anger. (see short video above) As you learn to love yourself, you can love others more completely.
For Nicholas and Alexander in Tsarina, What is love? included much more than their decision to marry for love expressed by the volume of love letters they wrote back and forth. They, through the effects of the unhealthy fear they both carried throughout their adult lives cut short, made the ultimate sacrifice that brought an end to their whole family through both ignorance and unfortunate choices.
Love for Others
If you find yourself caught between desperation, fear and anxiety, examine your own mental code. How do you feel about yourself? Loving yourself is not haughtiness, pride or self-righteousness. It is acceptance, understanding your personal strengths, and honest recognition of your weaknesses. It is loving yourself in the midst of a world amok with social media, narcissism and self gratification. When you truly love and accept who you are, warts and all, you can more completely love and accept others. With that complete love and acceptance, you can truly answer the question, What is love? because you are now able to give to others out of a belief in your own worth.
Check out the complete Change Your Life: Get Unstuck course (video above) with 42 videos and 80-pg. study guide. If you value a coach that will initiate personal and professional momentum in your life, you will find that inspiration and guidance in this course. Check it out free! *What is Love is also on: Chocolate, Songs of Love and The Double Grandé Experience
Deborah Johnson is all about using Creativity to expand your business and initiate professional momentum. Get Unstuck and get rid of Bad Code with her book Bad Code: Overcoming Bad Mental Code That Sabotages Your Life
Subscribe in a reader
