Do we, as humans, truly understand what it is to love?

Love, I’m told via divine guidance, is the “grand” lesson of our human existence. We are programmed (for lack of a better word) with an innate understanding that this is our goal, but we are left with little understanding of what love truly is and how to practice is, and thus we often fall quite short of executing it in its true divine form. We try, of course, according to where we are in our cycle of soul growth, but like a child learning his or her first language, we learn the language of love in progressively deeper iterations. We often start by throwing that word around casually because we know we’re supposed to love, but we don’t really know yet what that looks like. So we say “I love you” often, but without depth.

We use the word casually and often, because it seems to cover a lot of ground in our immature emotional centers. “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family” seems to imply this – If I say I love you, then you’ll love me back, and all will be well. And while that’s a lovely thought, love is an active process, not a passive thought or statement. Love takes a lot of work, a lot of introspection, a lot of course-correction. Love isn’t “easy” as we’re taught to believe. If love is our ultimate divine soul lesson, then why would we ever expect it to be so simple?

When I seek divine guidance, almost everything comes back to love. To the deep, strong, resilient, robust kind of love that few humans understand, and none have practiced perfectly / flawlessly / continuously throughout their human lifetimes. To learn to love in a cosmic sense while existing in a dense physical form, to incorporate the “all” (all of life, all circumstances, all perceptions, all needs and desires) – and then transcend it… It’s an unfathomably deep concept which we can only approximate cognitively with our thinking brain and ego via side glances and dreams. But we can sense its presence – and its absence – when we sit with an open, honest heart. And as we go through the cycles of our soul lessons, each turn getting more expansive and flowing, each completion bringing our own aspects of rational thought, heart, ego, and soul into harmony as “one,” then we deepen our ability to love ourselves and others in the truest sense of the word.

Can you love another human that you struggle to understand? Can you love someone despite all their flaws and differences? Can you love another person that disappoints, hurts, and/or disrespects you? Can you love all life no matter how lowly? Can you put yourself in a place of service or vulnerability to another? #faith

Can you love yourself even when you don’t really understand yourself? Despite all your flaws and mistakes? Can you put yourself first? Can you love yourself so much that you never feel alone or unsupported? #grace

Can you balance the two processes? The two halves of self and other that make the whole of true love? Can you support another when they need it, even when you’re hurting yourself, busy, or overwhelmed? Can you allow someone you love to have the space to create their own life, lessons, and reality, no matter how much you disagree? Can you embrace the idea that sometimes the strongest love, the truest love, doesn’t look like “love” in the human sense of the word at all, that sometimes love involves space, boundaries, and even detachment? #unconditionallove #trust

The answer is, YES, you can; we are all capable of loving in all these ways, but not without sometimes falling, failing, and losing sight of what love is. Sometimes we have to feel its absence in order to feel its brilliance once again.

In the moments you feel lost, alone, unsure, or unable to love either yourself or another, try this meditation

In a quiet space, close your eyes, and begin breathing deeply and slowly into your belly. Focus on relaxing your body one area at a time. When your mind is calm and your body relaxed, bring your awareness to your heart space. Feel it first relax, allowing any tension, pain, or hurt to evaporate away on the out-breath like smoke. After you’ve done this a few times and your heart feels clearer, begin breathing directly INTO your heart, using your #sacredimagination, and see/feel/sense clear, crisp, cool air flowing in. Imagine this air is pure, energizing, and healing. Do this until you feel calmer and more centered.

For extra assistance, call in one of your angels, spirit guides, ancestors, or some other being you feel connected to. Ask if they will allow you to place your forehead (Third Eye) on their heart space. In this way you can better “see” or experience divine love. You may also ask that they share with you some of their loving energy. You may see this manifest as a direct channel between their heart space and yours. See/feel/sense as this energy flows from them to you, filling your heart, then overflowing into the rest of your being, filling you until it overflows from your body in a cocoon of loving of energy surrounding your body like an egg. Notice the color of this energy.

(For me, one of the most profoundly beautiful experiences I’ve had with the angels was when I called in Archangel Michael in a moment of extreme grief, pain, and exhaustion. I laid my forehead against his heart space and immediately my vision went white. I looked around and saw that I was deep inside what seemed to be a white flower. The petals were limitless and they enfolded me in a velvety soft gentleness that was soothing and peaceful.)

Love to you,
Sheila, RHHW