Love (as the song goes) is in the air, everywhere you look around… Love is in the air, in every sight and every sound…

Yes, it is spring and Love is blossoming everywhere!  I was honored to officiate a wedding a few weeks ago, and be part of that beautiful expression of Love.  There are many weddings being planned across the world, while others are taking place at this very moment.  Love is everywhere!  Love is the most joyous state of BEing that I can think of and in my opinion, the reason for our existence on this marvelous planet.

Love is by far, the topic most widely written, discussed, and sung about in our history of humankind.  In esoteric communities, it is understood that Love is the source of all life and how we came to be.  But what is Love?  There are multiple definitions to be found, and I suppose the answer depends on the person asking the question, because Love I have found, means different things to different people.  At its most fundamental form though,

“Love is a strong positive emotion of regard and affection” ¹

I like this definition for its clarity.  Notice that the definition does not contain any conditions or attachments or expectations… it is simply Love, pure and untainted.

Love is a many splendid thing… We know and experience Love on so many levels, from family love, to love for a pet (another family member), Love for our Soul’s expression, i.e. music, art, sports, crafts, cooking, gardening, dancing – you get the picture.  Love is a beautiful thing!  Love feels so good doesn’t it?!  Love doesn’t require anything to exist, it simply is, without effort or reward, and that’s the beauty of Love.  What is even more beautiful is when Love recognizes itself in another BEing and is shared between two people.  Then WOW, it gets exciting!

BEING in Love with another person is the most exhilarating feeling I have ever felt, and I’m pretty sure there are many who would agree that has been their experience as well.  That special love between two BEings is unrivaled on the WOW! scale.  It is all at once, breathtaking, magical, exciting, uplifting, promising, empowering, and ecstatic!!  BEing in Love can give you the feeling of having wings and soaring to new heights with this amazing person who sees you, feels you, and understand you better than anyone ever has before.  That amazing BEing is a mirror image of you in so many ways (and vice versa), that you feel a tremendous comfort together, of BEing ONE, and complete.  Sharing Love with another enables us to open to new possibilities that we may have overlooked before this amazing person presented us with it, because Love is powerful and moving and expansive.  Suddenly we see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and sense everything on a deeper level than before, because Love is transformative in nature.  We have all been there to some degree right?  We tend to open more to possibility when we are in Love because that’s the best of us already, it was just buried somewhere in the recesses of our consciousness until that amazing person mirrored those aspects, illuminating the way so we SEE more.

Love is so powerful in its ability to elevate our experiences, mind, heart, creativity, and vibrational frequency.  Equally as powerful, is Love’s ability to reveal the Shadow Aspects of our nature that are not so pleasing, but necessary on our path to higher Love.  As Dan Millman states in his book, The Life You Were Born to Live – A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose,

“Because what we’re here to do isn’t necessarily what comes easiest…”

we must walk through the Shadows to get to and appreciate, the Light.  That’s why oftentimes that amazing person you are so in Love with, tends to “bring out the worst” in you as well.  Remember, they are mirroring you… in many ways.  For instance, most human BEings (of American Culture anyway), carry the following Shadow Aspects;

• Fear, Insecurity, Doubt, Jealousy, and Attachment, all of which are really Fear-based.

When in an intimate Love relationship, we experience all the highs and lows, ranging from ecstasy to anger, from optimism to hopelessness, etc.  Love tends to reveal the paramount lessons we are here to master in this life and can therefore, be a bumpy ride at times.  If we pay attention to our feelings during this wonderful ride, we learn much about our Self, our abilities, as well as limitations that our Self-imposed.

Love is the means by which we experience and evolve the Self into a higher vibration, when once achieved, transforms all the Shadow aspects to pure Love.  My feeling is that this is our purpose as human BEings, albeit an unconscious and challenging purpose, it is one that certain evolved BEings have discovered and achieved (Ram Dass, Jesus, Gandhi, Buddha, Mother Teresa, etc.).

While some may bash Love and deny that they want it in their life (they have undoubtedly encountered bitter experiences), I openly welcome Love and all it brings!  Love, in and of itself, is the best life has to offer, and should not be dismissed.  Love has taught me much about mySelf and human nature, and I am grateful beyond words.  Experiencing Love for what it is, without adding the Shadow of expectation, is sacred, and to be cherished for it is the connection between two souls that transcends space, time, and circumstance.

“Love without attachment is Light.” ~ N.O. Brown

It is true that not all Loves last forever, as much as we would like it to last, it just doesn’t.  Some would even question whether it was really Love at all or if their relationship was more of a circumstance.  When I was a teen and first ‘fell in Love,’ I thought it to be real at the time, but clearly recognize now that there were more Shadow aspects at work than anything else.  And “Because what we’re here to do isn’t necessarily what comes easiest”, we both learned (the hard way) more about ourSelves, clarifying what we did and didn’t want.  Love was there, it wasn’t a healthy Love relationship though, and it ended after a few years.  Hindsight is 20/20 they say.  Of course, I don’t know who ‘They’ are but they were right!  More in-depth exploration of Shadow Aspects will be revealed in up-coming articles in this Love series.  I offer this beautiful excerpt from Be Here Now by Ram Dass;

“When we speak of falling in love, we might find that a slight restatement of the experience would help clarify our direction.  For when you say “I fell in love” with him or her you are saying that he or she was the key that unlocked your heart – the place within yourself where you are love.  When the experience is mutual, you can see that the psychic chemistry of the situation allows both partners to “fall in love” or to “awake into love” or to “come into the Spirit.”  Since love is a state of being – and the Divine state at that – the state to which we all yearn to return, we wish to possess love.  At best we can try to possess the key to our hearts – our beloved – but sooner or later we find that even that is impossible.  To possess the key is to lose it.”

To Love is to grow, and oftentimes we must grow and move on because we have gotten all we can from the relationship, and/or, one or both individuals is not willing to grow any further with the other.  In either case, Love accomplished what it was intended for in that space and time.  Everyone got what they needed to take the next step on their journey.  The subject of Separation & Moving on will be explored at a later time as well, but for now, let’s continue with Love.

BEing someone who Loves life and all it holds, I cherish the relationships, Loves, and experience I have had.  I realize that there’s no such thing as loss of a Loved one, there are only varying degrees of expression of Love.  For instance, while I and my previous Loves are no longer together, we still have Love for one another, just expressed to a different degree than originally.  The Love and caring is still there, just under different circumstances.

Reality reflects that there was no real loss involved, only a change in circumstances surrounding that Love for one another.  Sure, the breakup is difficult, feelings are hurt, and oftentimes either or both individuals end of hating or resenting the other person… those are all tendencies that arise from the Shadow Aspects, and they are part of the overall lesson that we learn of our Self.  Remember earlier when I mentioned the Shadows of insecurity, jealousy, fear, etc.?  When you explore the origination of those feelings, and I mean really deep inquiry into why you feel that way, the truth emerges, and the Truth will set you free… free from the Shadow, and all its emotional havoc.  It is a beautiful and liberating feeling to recognize and move from the Shadow into the (en)Light(enment).  Congratulations!!  It is no easy task to face ones fears, and it requires practice to unravel the Shadow habits, but once you have started the process, you will not forget the beauty and Light of BEing free and BEing Love.

It is my life purpose (as is everyones) to face and master my personal challenges (Shadows), and share my discoveries and Love with my vast family across the globe.  For it is through our soulful connections that we experience, learn, Love, and evolve.  My practice is centered in Love and compassion, incorporating life lessons and intuitive guidance, to help others in working through Shadows, Healing, and increasing their vibration.  BEing a nurturer of souls and Mother Earth gives me great satisfaction and I say with great gratitude to you and the Universe,  I LOVE YOU!!!