“What Would Love Do?” Painting by Rochelle Carr

A novel, first published in 1896, and titled In His Steps was subtitled “What Would Jesus Do?”.  The publishing of this book and an increasing popularity of the concept caused a grassroots phenomena to spread through the United States in the 1990s.  Merchandise was made and sold bearing the famous slogan which was originally aimed at making the youth of a church group be more aware of how their decisions were affecting people. 
 
The ability to choose how we react is a power that we all posses, and while the slogan grew in popularity through the 1990s, the concept has been existent forever.  We are not able to choose how we are treated or even the trials that come to us – but we can choose our outlook, our attitude and our reactions.  For me, the underlying principle which governs my choices is love.  The theme travels through my art and the question I find myself pondering on a daily basis is “what would love do?” In the beginning of the painting (before the layers and layers of color) in bold black thick words were first on the raw canvas: “What Would Love Do?” The painting sold as soon as it hit the gallery wall. It is also the painting on the cover of my new book: Follow Your Heart Poetry. I find such joy in the fact that folks in our world still believe in LOVE and HEARTS. It’s quite a universal concept.
 
Earlier in my life I would ask myself this question as I faced challenging moments as a single parent, with a stubborn family member, or dealing with an ex husband.  I would work through this question by myself looking for peace and solace.  Often, the answer which crept into my heart, was FORGIVE.  This word and feeling represents itself as the sister word to LOVE, and I am so blessed to have had several examples of pure and forgiving life experiences that taught me not only to FORGIVE, but also to let go and move on. At the risk of sounding too woo woo….I will move on.
 
Does learning to love and forgive teach me all that I need to hear when reacting to others?  Yes, most of the time it really does. Yet there are moments that nothing works, and my behavior or rudeness warrants huge apologies to friends and family members. Expressing love, manifesting love, and loving is not the same for everyone – but as I ponder this question and learn to provide that same love and acceptance for myself and my partner as I age, I find that eventually, the truth is always present when I open my heart and listen.  The love language I speak now is evident in my affection, support, kindness, belief in the impossible, soft words, hearts, gift giving, gifts of time, acceptance, and artistic expression. My art and my hearts are a gift to the world so to speak. 
 
This painting titled “What Would Love Do”, expresses my feeling that love is the biggest factor in helping to make good choices.  It is a greater force in the world of chaos and unnecessary war than any other single thing.  Our hearts overlap and fill empty spaces as we open them more and more to love. What a miracle it is that we as humans have been provided the opportunity to feel and experience true authentic “love.”

“When you feel you can’t go on, when a loved one can’t be strong, provide a gentle hand from you, and simply ask: WHAT WOULD LOVE DO?”

Copyright 2009 by Rochelle Carr. All rights reserved.
 

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