Love in Action

Demarra West
3 days ago
2 min read

I’ve been working diligently to bring Love Will Liberate to life, my new book that officially releases on January 31. These past weeks, the writing has taken on a different energy. The pages have moved fast, almost urgent, and one message has pushed itself forward again and again: love becomes real through action.

Feeling love is simple. It rises without permission and fades and rises again. But feeling alone doesn’t help someone feel loved. What gives love its shape is what follows, because the actions leading up and following matter in terms of people knowing on a deep, visceral level they are loved. Emotion may open the door, but it’s your behavior that lets someone rest inside the relationship.

bell hooks reminds us that love is a deliberate act. Not a surge of emotion. Not chemistry. Not longing. A deliberate act. When you take that call seriously, love becomes a discipline that changes how you move. And slowly you realize the work of loving someone is not about intensity. It is about consistency.

Here are actions that help turn love from feeling into practice, the kind people can actually feel in their bones:

Be accountable for harm and repair with sincerity.
Give your time with intention so the people you care for feel chosen.
Listen with full presence until their words settle.
Ask questions that show real curiosity about their inner world.
Show up when support is needed and speak clearly about your limits when you cannot.
Use language that steadies the moment rather than sharpens it.
Offer appreciation often and name what you see.
Respect boundaries with care.
Share your own needs with honesty so connection has room to grow around truth.

These actions don’t demand perfection. They demand intention. And in choosing love as action, you deepen your own capacity to build the kind of connection that aligns with who you want to be.

If you want to take this work further, mark your calendar for December 13 at 11am. The soft launch of Love Will Liberate will go live at www.demarrawest.com , where you can access a free advance chapter before the official release on Jan 31, 2025.

You’ll also find my new conversation with Kevin McNeil on the Be Well Beautiful Podcast here, which is all about listening to pain, a theme that sits at the center of love as practice, along with my feature on the Let’s Glow Podcast here on healing as liberation.