"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge." - Thomas Carlyle
The snow melt continues as temperatures rise and the promise of Spring looms on the horizon here in the Colorado Rockies. The messiness of the mud and slush seem as metaphors for the messiness of creating, whether a new life, a new approach to a community concern, a new world or all of these.
What can I learn about the power of love from the muddy puddles that appear, grow in size and numbers, and change each day? How might this guide me in creating my life and us in creating our world?
I’m learning that practicing love is messy and paradoxical and that I can allow the messiness. I’m learning not to ignore it, to clean it up too fast, to put it out of sight and out of mind and go back to old habits favored by the world. In my willingness to be messy perhaps I can glimpse a new possibility, maybe (re)learning (from my four-legged friend Luke or a small child) the sheer joy of splashing in the mud and the creative spark that may follow
Perhaps I can come to deeply (and therefore consistently) see that the chaos in life and the problems facing humanity and the planet are opportunities for us to splash with joy, to experiment with new approaches in the mud of chaotic times. Perhaps I can embrace fully the opportunities for growth, for inventiveness, and for creativity, both personally and collectively, that what we call and experience as problems represent.
Perhaps splashing in the mud will remind me that the power of love is the sole Universal power that – when we practice it – changes everything. As I tap into this knowing, this wisdom of the ages I see the power of love to heal, to protect, to soften, to connect and most of all to create – a different life and a different world for us all.
Whether in my own little microcosm of choosing how I will respond to an event (or reacting without making a conscious choice), or in the greater macrocosm of the planet, collectively choosing how we address human and environmental concerns, may love be our answer. May I/we know and be love in every situation we face, especially those that seem to threaten the self-love required to act from love.
As you glide or slog through the week ahead may you see love in nature, in art, and in every person and event that crosses your path. And, may you return that love with a knowing that, no matter what the experience, with love everything changes.
Experiment for the Week: Notice where love is present in your life, from the inside out and the outside in. Embrace it. Be grateful.