Love is patient, love is kind…
When do we begin the long walk home?
The walk that reminds us of who we are. The walk which reminds us of our purpose. Rather, the walk we journey through of listening to the still small voice urging us to follow our own personal purpose. The walk which says “love is and always will be the answer”… agape love.
I’ve spent many years trying to find the words to write a piece on love, it has been important for me to get this one “right”.
Decades have past since I was in a yoga retreat with several special souls. I learned Yoga Nidra on this retreat. I also learned more about myself.
Energy work was being performed in the most delicate way possible, I watched as each person the energy worker was honing in on arise with a sense of newness once completed. I almost decided I was going to pass… that still small voice said, go on, do it. With some nervous anticipation, I walked over and said I was ready. I laid down on my mat, I waited with my eyes closed, I felt tingles throughout my body, and then in my ear I heard the kind whisper of my energy worker say “God’s Love” that’s the message, I’m being told to take very special care of this one.
The peace I felt through the process is one which I’ve carried with me since that sacred day + time in my life. My energy worker thanked me for allowing her to experience the energy. I equally thanked her for her gift of seeing me in one of my most vulnerable moments.
It was in those days, within the retreat, among friends I’d known for a large portion of my life, I had an epiphany that although I always knew I was surrounded by God‘s love, I’d felt unloveable for years.
I hadn’t been offering the same level of love I poured out to others towards myself. I shared this truth with my close tribe of friends who were with me on the retreat and they heard me, affirmed me, and reminded me how much I am truly loved.
Yet… I still had inner work to do.
Agape love begins within.
We are the vessels capable of pouring love into our safe spaces and the people we choose to share our lives with. The souls we continue to meet in our life, even in simple moments, is when our impact could very well be the small push which allows them to refocus their energy into becoming more loving towards themselves + others.
Love rejoices with the truth…
Love does not need to hide or shrink. It does not require only showing up in certain circumstances, nor only when there are terms or limits placed. Love is not counted as a math equation.
Love provides a space so wide open we can choose to dance, sit in silence, reflect on life, feel sadness, feel anxious, feel contentment; feel whatever truth is within us at any given time + space. Love is love.
(Not to be confused with boundaries. Boundaries we will discuss on another day + time.)
When we are placed in environments that require love to be brushed under a rug, we are in environments where love may need to be offered from a distance; to preserve peace within + peace for those who have chosen a different path along their own personal journey.
Love does not require a right nor a wrong way. Love simply is. It is not defined by anyone else’s inability to give nor receive it.
Love protects, love trusts…
Love protects the giver and the receiver. As a giver of love, we trust. We trust in ourselves and we trust in the love we give at our core when we’re being our authentic selves. Love is autonomy.
As a receiver… at times we may not trust at all. These two truths may coexist from time to time; depending on where we are at on our journey through life. There’s never a time to resist whichever direction that may be for you at any given time. Love is fluidity.
Love hopes and always perseveres…
We are human beings first and foremost. To say we do not feel disappointment surrounding the illusion of love would be a lie. To say we do not hope for better outcomes when it comes to matters of the heart would be unrealistic.
Hope does not mean an infinite ability to control anything outside of ourselves. It is with hope that we’re able to persevere through hardship and through life’s challenges, while we navigate how we choose to show up in love. The perseverance to choose love in spite of life’s challenges.
The path is already laid out in front of us… love guides us along the path + shows us where we may need to pivot. Change is inevitable (see: why do we run from new beginnings) love is the way in which we journey through, with hope + perseverance, knowing we’re able to trust the inner voice cheering us on with loving guidance. Love is the still small voice.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child…
Let’s remind ourselves of the truth of who we have always been from the moment we took our first breath. As children we love with our whole hearts…
These days, I have the joy of watching my grandson embody this truth since the day he was born… 4.4.24.
The ways in which he brings me memories of my own grandmama, who was one of my favorite humans on earth.
I remember as a child how loving + kind + a rock she was for me growing up. I remember her tears. I remember her laughter; the stories she would share from her own childhood that sent a contagious wave of laughter from her belly.
Ms. Minnie Reuben was and always will be the epitome of love.
One of my fondest memories was listening to her sing gospel hymns in the kitchen, whether cleaning, cooking, or simply looking out the window into the sky. Blessed Assurance + What a Friend We Have In Jesus are the two standing out to me in this current moment. I can hear her singing now…
Love simply is.
Children love the very foundation of the legacy they are birthed into, no matter the circumstances. Until life decides to show them differently. It is through the trials of life when children may begin to learn from adults who have redirected the energy of what love is, into how they believe it should be interpreted or labeled. This changes the very core of simply loving ourselves + those we continue to encounter throughout our lives.
As adults, children are our guides; the essence of love which teaches us to remember our own innocence. Teaches us to come back to center. Teaches us the very real fact that we all began as children filled with love.
When do we begin the walk of continuing to do the work? At times, we may struggle with what the work truly entails. The work requires coming back to center; often times, again and again. Looking in the mirror and sifting through what we ourselves learned throughout our lives; which may have overshadowed what love is + how it shows up in our everyday lives. The work of listening to the still small voice within us; reminding us of our purpose to keep moving forward in doing the inner work. The inner work is love.
Faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
