Sometimes I think “love” and “fear” aren’t the best words to use in describing this concept, because they are both culturally loaded words, so full of associations that can easily distract one from the essence of the message they’re being used to convey in this case. It took me a while to accept the idea because at first, to be honest, considering “love” and “fear” to be polar opposites was alien to my way of thinking, owing to my lack of understanding of what those words mean in this particular context. It took some reflection and contemplation, but I now recognize the forces that are being referred to when people speak of “love” and “fear” in this way. Although the meanings that culture and conditioning cause us to attach to the words may shed light on some of the particular manifestations of this dynamic, in other ways they can be obstacles to understanding.