From our journal
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Project Love is a global design community based in the UK, developing global projects that foster love across communities and society.
“To befriend another, first befriend yourself.” - Aristotle
We must love ourselves before we love others. From understanding our identity, to the rites of passage, coming out and developing our own self-esteem to present ourselves, love starts with the self.
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread.” Ursula Le Guin
Most people think of love as this.
Love as the interplay between two people, how they meet, fall in love, sustain relationships and navigate the rituals love: courtship, engagement, marriage, family and falling out of love, divorce and death, all in the context of culture, religion and social norms.
“We have to learn to be human alongside all sorts of others, the ones whose company we don’t greatly like.” - Rowan Williams
Our desire to connect, or hide from our neighbours, our generosity to, or our rejection of newcomers — these represent the two sides of communities that can be positive forces for love or barriers to integration and harmony.
We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us." - Jo Cox
Perhaps the most difficult challenge of love is to ask us to love those who are against us, oppose us or threaten us. We must try to detoxify our social conversations and we can explore and experiment with aiding rational debate and understanding those we disagree with.
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” - Rachel Carson
From whale watching to owning a pet, bird watching and walking in a wood, our interactions with nature provide us with a fresh perspective, a chance to restore our souls and reflect on greater things. Our love for animals can enhance our wellbeing and our care for the environment can drive us to individual and political action. In a time of climate crisis, our care for our world in vital to many and provides purpose and meaning.
We are part of nature and our love of our environments and all who live in them is a vital aspect of many lives.
“Flow down and down into ever widening rings of being.” - Rumi
Exploring the spirituality of all faiths and cultures, we want to understand the power of thought and rituals and how they bring us together to enhance our love for one another.
Design bridges art and science, society, economics, the environment, technology and ethics, and paints possible futures for us to understand the future consequences of our actions. This opportunity to facilitate a dialogue that will create artefacts, new interactions and rituals that just might help us love one another is the most exciting brief I can think of.
