In the 60s, Petula Clark sang “My Love is brighter than the brightest sunshine.” Jackie DeShannon sang “What the World Needs Now.” The Beatles sang about it. Still in this 21st century we yearn for it.

Instead of writing fake news, or mean memes on FaceBook, why don’t we talk about our love for the meadows, the lakes, the mountains, trees, the flowers, our homes, pets, families, gardens, friends and learning about our world, our psyche, our hearts? Why do we belittle ourselves so much that we have to take down the person next to us in gym class or condescend on Twitter?

Why do we let fake news stand with its hate rolling out like the Nazis drummed along the streets in World War II. It could be argued that Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots had to do the evil bidding of killing rivals; but in this age why don’t we muster the love inside our souls to negotiate and reason for the good of the many?

Every day I open the front and side curtains of my little cottage; then I see the sun rising and the squirrels dancing, and the finches searching for food. In some ways, these are the expressions of love I see everyday. Life is love. A tree in its fractal elegance is love.

I can see that our lives are fractal images of life. In each of us, we have the one-celled organism, then the multi-celled until we stand a million plus celled bipedal species. We live as a mirror of the single-celled form with branches reaching out for love.

Has technology robbed us of our humanity or added to our humanity? Early humans had few technologies but soon discovered fire and the wheel. With the industrial revolution, humans built a world dusty and dangerous until new discoveries brought the Gutenberg Press, automobiles, rockets and computers. We have developed cell phone postures that hurt our spine and neck. We are checking out of one-to-one scenes in favor of the hand-held technology. We’d rather have text conversations than meet face-to-face at Chili’s.

We must love enough that we know when words are not helpful; or know when posts hurt; or know when forgiving trumps revenge. We must love so much that we choose to collaborate, negotiate, and talk it out. Walls are not for love of country or self or others; walls are for barriers to growing in knowledge, love and understanding. History shows us that with the Great Wall of China.

Love has brought us this far, and love can carry us forward. We only have to open our hearts and minds to learning, growing, and reaching beyond ourselves. What the world needs now is love.

--Nelda Curtiss is a retired college professor who enjoys writing and fine arts. Contact her at [email protected]