Love and Work. Work and Love.

“Love and work…work and love, that’s all there is.” –Sigmund Freud

“To love is to will the good of the other.” -Saint Thomas Aquinas

“Yes, we shall live, Uncle Vanya. We shall live through the long procession of days before us, and through the long evenings; we shall patiently bear the trials that fate imposes on us; we shall work for others without rest, both now and when we are old; and when our last hour comes we shall meet it humbly, and there, beyond the grave, we shall say that we have suffered and wept, that our life was bitter, and God will have pity on us. Ah, then dear, dear Uncle, we shall see that bright and beautiful life; we shall rejoice and look back upon our sorrow here; a tender smile—and—we shall rest. I have faith, Uncle, fervent, passionate faith.” -Sonia from the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (Annie Baker adaptation)

Love and work go hand in hand.  Taking Aquinas’ beautiful definition quoted above, love is not a feeling. It’s an act.  An act of will. It takes work. Constant work.

And for it to matter, any meaningful work or work of art must always, always stem from love.