With Valentine's Day only a couple days away, it seemed only fitting to speak of love. In 2011, my word for the year was love. I selected it in the hopes of finding that romantic love dripping with giddiness and on the course to true intimacy. But alas, I was served up a different experience of love. My regular readers who have followed my journey know this tale - it is a story of learning to gracefully let go of people and things that I loved. I also learned about loving myself completely and this resulted in restoring my health and losing to date 55.5 lbs.
In this year I also discovered the Aphrodite in me - a juicy, sensual woman. As the Aphrodite archetype activated in me, my eyes opened up and I began to see the beauty within everyone I met. I see their individual gifts, even if they don't, and my desire is to help them to realize this beauty so they can go out into the world and grace us all with their unique light. Aphrodite, in the purest sense is not about sex but about loving the divine in others and loving the experience of life with every sense: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and feeling.
As I sit at my computer this morning writing this blog post, I feel rested, refreshed, renewed. I love the bright sun lighting the room. I'm listening to the soothing voice of Deepak Chopra. He speaks of love and I'm filled with contentment. He says:
love is meant to heal
love is meant to renew
love is meant to make us safe
love is meant to inspire us with its power
love is meant to remove all doubts
love is meant to oust all fear
love is meant to unveil immortality
love is meant to bring peace
love is meant to harmonize our differences
love is meant to bring us closer to God
Deepak Chopra speaks of:
The Secret of Love
The Secret of Attraction
The Secret of Infatuation
The Secret of Communion
The Secret of Intimacy
The Secret of Sexuality
The Secret of Surrender
The Secret of Passion
The Secret of Ecstasy
and the recording includes meditations, affirmations, and poetry. (See: The Secret of Love
Yesterday I randomly opened up the book: 365 Mary: A Daily Guide to Mary's Wisdom and Comfort
Despite the fact that most of us will be neither the donor nor the recipient in an actual heart transplant, when we risk forming intimate relationships with others we take part in a heart transplant of a different sort. Whenever we fall in love, connect with a soulmate, give birth to a child, or form a deep, intimate relationship, we give away our heart, or at least part of it. Sometimes the transplant takes and we get back as much as we give; other times the tissue isn't a close enough match, and we end up being hurt. Most of the time, however, the reward of love is worth all the pain and the risk.
Questions: Am I afraid to love? What do I think would happen if I let myself love and be loved?
Affirmation: I'm willing to risk love.
I can not write of love without including a little Rumi.
I WANT THAT LOVE
Lift your veil
So I may see your face
Part the clouds
So I may see the moon
Scatter your hair
So I may sense your fragrance
Part your lips
So I may kiss your breath
I want that love
That moved the mountains
I want that love
That split the ocean
I want that love
That made the winds tremble
I want that love
That roared like thunder
I want that love
That will raise the dead
I want that love
That lifts us to ecstasy
I want that love
That is the silence of eternity
(Deepest thanks to my dear friend Chris O'Connor for sharing her Tango Couple SoulCollage card pictured above.)
I'll close this post with some words from the Henri Nouwen Society:
Words That Feed Us
When we talk to one another, we often talk about what happened, what we are doing, or what we plan to do. Often we say, "What's up?" and we encourage one another to share the details of our daily lives. But often we want to hear something else. We want to hear, "I've been thinking of you today," or "I missed you," or "I wish you were here," or "I really love you." It is not always easy to say these words, but such words can deepen our bonds with one another.
Telling someone "I love you" in whatever way is always delivering good news. Nobody will respond by saying, "Well, I knew that already, you don't have to say it again"! Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.
This week I invite you to turn your attention inward first and love yourself. Fill up with the knowledge that you are completely loved and lovable. Then, answer Henri Nouwen's call to speak your words of love to others.
May you have a lovely week!
Namaste,
Kathryn, Collage Diva
love it..
Posted by: arlene | 02/13/2012 at 02:54 PM
Awesome - beautiful pics too. And I love your freebie Journal Page - thank you.
Posted by: Barbs | 02/14/2012 at 05:43 AM