without consequence

♥️

people are walking around with smiles they’ve put on while wound full and scarred, taking care of life while nervous and unsure. 

fragile. 

scared. 

hurt. 

sometimes selfish. 

and often armed with a multitude of strategies to protect themselves from pain or the perception of it. 

people of all cultures, all faiths, all ages, all races. even those who have it or keep it together and are doing well ...it’s part of our humanness and part of our journey regardless of our outlook and skill set, regardless of our belief systems and spiritual life, regardless of our mental health and our energy. we all have stories that have built us and at times broken us, and we all have the desire to connect, to belong, and to be cared about. 

i know people look at each other and miss who they’re looking at because they aren’t seeing who they’re looking at, they are seeing the outside and all the externals of who they’re looking at. 

i also know that Love looks at people and sees their insides.  Love sees past the curtains, barricades, and facades. Love sees inside and recognizes all the ways a heart beats and says “you are worthy.”

i know Love is healing, certain, constant, and strong. 

i know Love is assurance. 

pure. 

selfless. 

graceful. 

faithful. 

strength through seasons that threaten our joy. 

unshakable through storms that hurl us into unwelcomed chaos. 

i know Love protects us without consequence through shame, fear, or attack. 

and celebrates not as much all that we do, but all that we are. 

Love seeks to love, not to be loved, 

to console, not to be consoled, 

to understand, not to be understood. 

Love is not a seeker of attention or gain. 

Love loves 

without an agenda. 

Love knows

no bounds. 

when i say i love you ...

♥

when i say i love you 
it means you have someone who
will encourage you
when you feel you have failed,
is proud of you
when you feel shamed,
supports you
when you feel weak,
believes in you
when you are swimming recklessly in doubt,
wants you
when you feel undesirable,
is grateful for you
when you feel unworthy,
wants what's best for you
even when it hurts,
will remind you of your greatness
when you have forgotten your significance,
will heal you
when no one else can even tell that you are wounded,
and understands you
when nothing in your entire world makes any sense at all. 
♥
when i say i love you
it means you have
love without conditions, 
love without limits,
love without fail.
 ♥
when i say i love you
it is not because of what you have done, what you are doing, or what you will do. 
it is because of who you have been,
who you are,
and every single bit of who you are still yet to be.

promises

i promise that you will have at least one moment in your life when you will feel scared.
you will have a moment when you feel misunderstood.
or alone.
or inadequate.
or just plain sad.
you are going to have times that hurt.
and times that aren't fair.
this is not because there is anything wrong with you.
there isn't.
this is life.
and life isn't always fair.
instead of asking "why me?"  learn to ask "why not me?"    

i promise that although i have never been in your shoes, and i haven't been You, i have experienced all of those things too, and i understand how hard life can be. 

i promise that when you are facing something i have never experienced, i will face it with you. 

i promise that you can come to me with anything, and i will stand by you.
i promise not to fix your problems.
not because i don't love you.
but because i do.
and because i believe in you.
i promise you are stronger and braver than you think you are. 

i promise that i will not scold you.
i will not judge you.
i will not use your words against you
and i will not tell you how to live your own life. 

your life is YOUR journey. 

i promise to love you, always more, and never less.
i promise that this will be true every single night when you lay your head down to sleep. 

i promise that you are never, ever, alone. 

loving the whole person

♥

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♥

who are you thankful for?

tell them today!

on be-ing: be grateful. be unafraid. believe ...

♥

i wonder how many of you saw the heart in the leaves :-)

♥

the unconditional condition

is it necessary to label ourselves with a belief system, and in doing so immediately create boundaries that we - and others - are unwilling or unable to cross?  do you know anyone who does this, and consequently, considers anyone outside of this belief system to be "wrong?"  i do.  and i am not saying that i believe they are wrong for believing this way.  i believe they are living in the ways that feel right to them.  and i seek to understand their perspective and to feel from where they feel.  what i AM saying, is that this fascinates me.

recently i found myself in two separate experiences, each mirroring the other, yet each person unaware and on the outside totally and fundamentally opposing the other:

one person who is completely and proudly atheist, absolutely and without any reservation, was explaining to me the scope of parental love.  this person said, "there aren't many things that i know for sure in this world, beyond the shadow of any doubt.  because there can always be questions about anything.  but the one thing i do know, no matter what, with all my heart, is that no matter what happens, i will always love my children.  it doesn't matter what they do, say, feel, or think."   i asked, "even vote?" and believe it or not the answer was:  "even vote."  "... even if they ended up in jail for doing something horrible.  i would want to understand.  i might disagree … and i would still love them.  they are my children, and that is forever, and that love can never ever be broken.  that love always, always comes first."

not long after that, i was discussing God and judgment with a person who is completely and proudly christian.  and this person said, "i believe that God loves us without judgment, and loves us the way i love my children.  my children are going to do things that i do not agree with.  things i might not want them to do, might hope they don't do, might be mad at them for doing.  we are not always going to agree.  i might think, what the hell are they thinking??  but none of those things are going to make me love them any less, or stop loving them.  they are going to do what they think they should do and i have to let them.  i have to trust them.  they are going to mess up; we all do.  but my love for them does not diminish.  i believe that is how god loves us."

these people will probably never meet, nor would they be likely to carry on such a conversation with each other if they ever did meet.  but what is interesting to me, and what touches my heart, is what is so obvious.  these people could not be farther apart, more opposite in their belief systems.  neither one would consider the other to be "right."  and it's not about right.  or wrong.  things are not always right or wrong, sometimes they just are.  and how important is it if one of them believes in God, or the Universe, or a Supreme Being, or Love, etc? …  at the core of each one, all of these are the same … the very inner spirit, the love, is the same.  the root, is love.  the common bond, is love.  the most important thing, the truest connection, is love.  this is the universal language and it was my honor to find myself as like a midpoint between these two energies.  as if i could look to the left and see one; look to the right and see the other ... and know that i am surrounded by love.  i believe we can all connect to others in this simple and natural way.  all it takes is one person at a time.  once you connect with one other person not at face value, but as a human being, at this core level of one heart to another, there is no judgment there.  there is no room for it.  and this becomes more natural and more instinctual.  this is what so many people are missing in their own lives.  this is what so many people are missing about everyone else around them.  they are so busy forgetting to look at the hearts of others; instead … they are looking only … at what they see…

and this is simply, not,  the best that we can do.