Love As I Know It

We need to be vulnerable enough to admit what we are feeling out loud to another person. I once heard something that stuck with me: "everything we say is for us to hear." We need to speak the truth in our heart; we need to be heard and seen by others to feel valued. It's when we hide our thoughts, feelings or emotions from others that we fall victim to our own lack of vulnerability.

Once we bravely share our soul/heart (love) and speak our mind (fear) to another person, we not only create that intimate bond, but we are rewarded with a sense of value and worth.

This is actually healing on a soul level. Emotions are just energy in motion. They are meant to move through us from our heart to another's. We are here to form relationships. So withholding emotions by stuffing them down inside our body has negative implications.

Choose to unleash emotions: the pinging of our heart or the anger deep in our tissue—the feelings we timidly hold from our partner or the gravity of our recent loss. Let it all go. Let your heart be heard. Let your truth be seen.

According to Brene Brown, this is love:

We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.

When we disown our feelings, we dishonor our partner by proxy. We build a dam to the intimacy and connection that otherwise grows when we are vulnerable.

This is why I adore the quote by Anais Nin. We hold the key for the potential of love in our own heart and between ourselves and another soul. It always starts with us, with our ability to face whatever insidious weed is rampantly spreading in our body.

It may feel like treacherous waters to wade into. It may seem debilitating to explore what can easily be diminished with liquor or food or sex. But unless we face our heart's longing to be open, we will fail to vanquish our emotion and fear.

The enemy of love is never outside, it’s not a man or a woman, it’s what we lack in ourselves.

—Anaïs Nin

If we tiptoe even with small steps of loving intention toward ourself, we will be empowering our emotions. It takes feeling what we've spent too long avoiding. I know all too well how feeling the weight of our emotions can be daunting, but let me be your walking testament: the weightlessness—the lightness we feel once the energy moves from our body—is worth battling our deepest wounds.

Awake at dawn

Awake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. —Kahlil Gibran

What If...

God is a cloud from which rain fell. —Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

What if a hummingbird is God's way of telling us to soak up the sweet nectar of life?

What if God gave us stars so we can be reminded of his light at night?

What if the stars are a reminder to search for our own light even when we cannot see it?

What if a rainbow is His way of telling us to seek out his Grace even if we cannot see the end in sight?

What if our soulmate is God's way of ensuring we reach our highest potential?

What if His love, love for ourselves, and love for others is why we are here?

Look for God's signs of love, and when He rains down in sadness or jubilant joy, know that the result is love.

For we have to feel all we feel in darkness to return to the light inside.

—Karilyn Owens

I Choose You

I choose a lover who professes their love with whatever form suits their soul.

I choose a lover who doesn’t hold their tongue, no matter what the message is.

I choose a lover who soothes my soul with just one touch.

I choose a lover who knows what they want and finds it in me.

I choose a lover who awakens from a nights sleep giddy over my fresh face and new day.

I choose a lover who knows how to play and embraces their inner child.

I choose a lover who has been through hell so as to recognize and appreciate fucking fantastic when it arrives.

I choose a lover that embodies mind, body and spirit in their chaotic life.

I choose a lover whose faith is steadfast and heart is forthright.

I choose a lover whose flame never dwindles but only grows stronger.

I choose a lover who knows who I am and what I dream of at my core.

I choose a lover who will swim in my pool of vulnerability and not be weary of the deep end.

I choose a lover who wears passion just as unabashedly as his favorite, worn-in t-shirt.

I choose a lover who marvels at the tiniest wonders with me.

I choose a lover who believes our connection is the greatest gift in life.

I choose a lover who never looks back but braves each storm together.

I choose a lover whose words touch my heart and awaken my soul.

I choose a lover whose lips melt into mine taking me to another time and space.

I choose a lover who will dig deep trenches inside my heart and fill it with a love so passionate and raw that every open crack is patched.

I choose a lover that doesn’t choose me by default, but fights to choose me.

I choose a lover who understands I’m not a property that can be owned, remodeled or upgraded.

I choose a lover who allows freedom for our individual foundations to be laid with solid intentions.

I choose a lover who feels deeply, loves irrationally and lives wholeheartedly.

I choose a lover who views kindness as an obligation, not a choice.

I choose a lover who has an unwavering sense of faith, purpose and light.

I choose a lover who believes this world is inherently good, that it is souls like us who serve as a gripping reminder.

I choose a lover that chooses me first, that would choose me even if I didn’t choose him.

I choose a lover that sits beside me at the end of the day simply because where I am is home.

I choose a lover who lights up the room with insidious love, laughter and kindness.

I choose a lover who will show me why it never worked before.

I choose a lover whose laugh ignites my very soul, whose voice feels like a familiar calling, whose kiss feels like the one I’ve waited my whole life for.

I choose a lover who teaches me everything I think I know about love and everything I have yet to learn.

I choose a lover whose idea of adventure is choosing an ice cream flavor along with combing the rainforest.

I choose a lover who thinks each new day is a chance to write a new story, one that is better than the last.

I choose a lover who has the utmost sense of who he is at the soul level.

This is who I choose. I choose you, over and over, on any day, under any roof, amidst every starry night. I choose you.

And I will keep choosing you until our souls part.