The Concept of Radical Love
A small idea that quietly changed everything…
I first came across the concept of “radical love” in one of my daily guided meditations on the Calm App. It was one of those moments where something small lands in exactly the right place at exactly the right time, and you just know it’s going to make a big difference.
And what a difference it made. It changed my perspective on so many things. It shifted something in me at my core, at a fundamental level.
The idea itself is simple: love radically. Fully. Without condition, without reason, without waiting for someone to earn it first.
You may know it as "The Golden Rule" (treat others the way you want to be treated). Growing up in the Church, I knew it as the First Commandment: "love thy neighbor as thyself," rooted in the belief that God is love — the full, complete embodiment of it — and that we are called to move through the world loving others as God does. In Buddhism, the practice of "Metta," or loving-kindness, teaches the same thing: unconditional love toward all beings.
Radical love isn’t a new idea. It’s just one we forget to practice intentionally. And the beautiful thing? It doesn’t belong to one tradition, belief system, or type of person. We can all embody radical love.
In small ways, radical love looks like taking a moment to step back and be mindful. This week’s example: I’m overwhelmed and overstimulated, and my kids are running around, screaming, laughing, chasing each other, and not listening to a word I say, and I pause to radically love the moment. The joy, the sound of their laughter, how well they are actually getting along right now. Choosing to be present in the beautiful chaos instead of just surviving it.
On a larger scale, it means extending the same grace outward. To neighbors, to strangers, even (especially) to those that make loving feel hard. I fully believe that we can even truly, deeply love others without ever knowing them. If people can hate a stranger for the color of their skin or the way they present their gender to the world, then so can I love.
And love I shall. Love my neighbors, love my enemies. Radically.
It doesn't have to be grand. It doesn't require a platform, or a movement, or even the right words. It just requires a moment of intentionally choosing love when something else would be easier.
So wherever you are today when you read this, whether you’re deep in the mess of parenting small humans, navigating something else hard, or just trying to exist in the chaos of the world, I want you to do something for me (for us!):
Go out there and love radically. In the big ways and the small ones.
Then, let me know how it goes. How it feels.
As my favorite band (The Presidents of the United States of America) says, “You gotta love everybodyyyy, and make them feel good about themselvesss.”
Honestly? I can’t think of a better way to live.
Love youuuuuu,
H