The message of the day is Love Yourself. It rose up unbidden as I dried my face on a towel after splashing it with cold water upon waking. I could tell it was one of those that was not necessarily directed at me, but was one to be shared. I was going to post it on Facebook and leave it at that, but as soon as I started, I already could hear the arguments from some quarters about such a bald statement. So here I am, drinking a cup of tea, and trying to write just a bit more on a topic that needs either volumes or resonant silence to in order to be properly expressed.
Love yourself. Why is that so difficult? Love yourself. Does not every other kind of healthy love begin this way? Love yourself. What keeps you from this? Love yourself. What makes you shy from it, recoil from it, think that it is not OK?
Without self love, no other love is truly possible on a deep level. We must know our center to be able to reach out clearly to another, without toppling our lives, without falling from our heavens, without forgetting the deep sense of that which loves in the first place.
Love is not duty. Love does not arise from lack. Love comes from that sense of who I am, and radiates outward, shining like a mighty sun some days, or like a candle – cheerfully welcoming those wandering in the darkness – or hearth fire when sustenance is needed.
Loving ourselves gives rise to the bedrock of a core that supports the rest of our lives. Self love makes it possible to actually see and love another human, another animal, another star. Without a love of our miraculous selves, everything in our lives becomes just that much more difficult. All is distorted by romance, or shame, or pain, or co-dependence. Anger, blindness, hubris, or self loathing rule the day. Self love is the beginning of balance and the ability to make the great return to center.
Self-love shifts our relationship with desire, helping to replace greed or longing with an assurance that galvanizes us toward action.
Know who you are. Sit with yourself today.
Love is the opener. Love is the shield and sword. Love is the welcoming set of arms. Love is the sun and wind. Love is the apple hanging from the branch. Love is the conduit of spirit. Love is in you. Find your center. Find that still place at your core. Breathe into it and just Drop. Then open. Love lights the heart and mind. Love sets our feet upon the path. Love is the law. And that means you. And you. And you.
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