So far we’ve covered beginner’s mind, clear intention, and trust as the pillars to a solid Akashic Records practice. To this list I would add unconditional love. When I asked the Records what love meant, they responded it was helping someone “feel seen, heard, and held.” (If you know me from my Read more…
When people learn to access their Akashic Records they come into conscious contact with the flow of their soul. For some it is a feeling of homecoming, like re-encountering something dear and familiar after a time of forgetting. For others, being held in a field of unconditional love an be so overwhelming it moves them to tears. Still for many, the very prospect of entering the realm of the infinite and eternal sets off so many triggers. Will I be able to do this? Am I imagining things? Am I worthy of standing in such sacred space? (more…)
I’m not in the habit of being a contrarian Oh, who am I kidding? I felt compelled to directly contradict a RT in my Twitter feed today for getting love exactly backwards. No, love is NOT “giving someone the chance to hurt you, but trusting them not to.” Love is giving someone the chance to open you up, and trusting yourself to get through the hurt if/when it comes. I’m toying with the idea of opening a Love Academy just to right these wrongs, but in the interim, let’s just break this little nugget down.
Dear Dad, Can you believe it’s been two years since your death? In that weird way time has of warping our sense of its passing, it seems an eternity, but also just like yesterday. I can still feel your hand in mine and hear your labored breathing, as if it Read more…
The questions and comments around love are piling up in my inbox faster than my brain can process, so I’m just going to keep typing at the pace my fingers will allow and hope that eventually I end up writing my way through them all. Today I’m tackling the thorny question Read more…
My most faithful reader has been emailing me about my last post on bringing love consciously into our work, and raises the following questions:
I actually anticipated these two questions, because they have also been weighing on my mind. Let me take on the second question first: Can you have a single definition of love for everyone in your life?
I speak only for myself, of course, but, YES, I have arrived at a single definition of love for absolutely everyone in my life, and for me it’s both a matter of principle and a pragmatic way of figuring out where I’m falling short and what I need to do to keep growing. (more…)
I’ve been staring a lot of sacred cows in the eye lately, and it’s been a very productive exercise. In my last post I wrote about empowerment; today I feel like taking on the subject of love. No matter how tough our actual job situations get, youth service professionals firmly maintain our love for the work and the people we serve: “I love working with youth!” “I love my young people.” What do we actually mean by the word ‘love’? More precisely, I should ask, what do you mean when you say the word ‘love’?
There’s been a lot written around the languages of love, but that’s not what I’m referring to here. While it’s interesting to figure out whether you express love through words, action, etc., I’m trying to get at something deeper still: your very definition of ‘Iove.’ In other words, when you tell someone “I love you,” or you prepare a meal for your loved one, or you give someone a hug, what is your intention? (And please don’t say, “To show love,” because that would be circular reasoning.)
If you can’t answer this question, I suggest you take some time to put together your own personal definition of love because this is too important a term to throw around lightly. My interest in love is not born of intellectual curiosity. This has to do with practice. Knowing what you actually mean when you claim to bring love to your work has several very concrete advantages. (more…)
I’m choosing to write this rather personal post on this public blog because so much of the work I do in the world is fed both directly and indirectly by the work I do internally. This year has brought a steady stream of learning opportunities, and while they did not Read more…
“Oh, yes, I can assure you, men in felt hats and women carrying baskets—you have lost something that would have been very valuable to you. You have lost a leader, whom you would have followed; and one of you has lost happiness and children. He is dead who would have Read more…
Today I remembered the root of my obsession with birds and why I connect their flight to self-discovery. My dad gave me this book back in 1986(!), and I am only now beginning to understand the profundity of the lessons within. Miss you horribly today, Dad, but I hope you Read more…