To love yourself as you are is a miracle, and to seek yourself is to have found yourself, for now. And now is all we have, and love is who we are.
– Anne Lamott
Hello Love…
I’ve been thinking about love a lot lately. Not about falling in love, which I don’t recommend (I’ll share more about that at another time), but what it means to be love.
See being love and being-in-love are two starkly different experiences. You know what I mean?
Being-in-love has more to do with hormones than anything else; although popular fiction, in all mediums, would have you to believe otherwise. But when you exist in the state of love, actually be-ing love… you experience life and everything in it, differently.
When you are be-ing love, compassion is effortless and patience is the norm. When you are existing in the state of love (be-ing) you can accept people for who they are. You can release the expectation of reciprocity. And you can forgive, because you know that forgiveness does not require mind-erasing. (tweet this)
When you live love (be-ing), you don’t have to pretend to be anything but. You don’t have to hide behind an obstructive persona, because you know that your you-ness is attractive and that there is nobody else you’re supposed to be.
Be-ing love is not hard, but it’s not easy either. You have to unlearn defensive behavior and resist the urge to put your dukes up.
Be-ing love requires that you allow yourself to feel – everything. It means being susceptible to boundless JOY + intentional HAPPINESS. But it also means being in the line of fire of wounded, hurt, and dysfunctional people. Of course when you are be-ing love, you know that only “hurt people, hurt people,” and that the only Rx that works is – L.O.V.E.
I think this manifesto totally sums it up:
It’s totally awesome-sauce, yes? I thought so too.
I have tried to have love, to get love, to see love, to feel love, to give love, to take love, to make love... but I’m still working on be-ing love. It might take the rest of my life to get the hang of it, but I’m determined. Are you?
Here’s to Be-ing the space where love resides…
Consciously ❤︎ing,
P.S. – This video will make you tingle in your heart & between your ears. Here’s a great post about daring to desire in the face of adversity. And I’ve been in a classical kinda mood lately, so I’ve been playing Bolero on repeat… yes, even a hippie spirited gal like me can revel in vintage tunes! LOL
***This originally appeared in the 11/13/14 edition of the Link my bi-weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.***