We are approaching the winter turning, the day where the sun at noon is at its lowest point over the horizon, then begins to gain altitude, slowly but steadily returning us earthlings to the light.

And we’re coming to the end of 2012, a year which received wide press as a year of turning, challenges, possibilities, opportunities.

We’re also nearing the cultural celebrations of love and light — Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali…celebrating love and light, giving, sharing…

At the same time we are smack in the middle of major crises —  financial, nuclear, climatic, food, population, democracy, humanitarian… which means it’s all the more crucial and important where we put our attention.  We are not separate, we are interconnected, what we say, do, think affects the whole.

The last couple of days I have received a rain of love, and I fervently hope it becomes a reign of love!    I offer you several pieces, opportunities to direct your attention and focus — toward love and light, healing and transformation.

My recent Diamond Approach weekend was about love, personal and boundless.  I had a dramatic experience that very weekend of how I unconsciously, habitually limit my love, shutting myself in and others out, (even my sweetie!) by running old patterns, judgments.  And I experienced how it’s possible to drop these, and feel the expanded sense of connection that an open heart can know.  Walking along with Mike, I could hold the familiar irritations and ‘junk’, first in the usual way, then as I shifted my attention it was held in a larger space of acceptance and kindness toward myself, him, and us all.  It was a transformational moment, and completely accessible.

Then, a day later, I received this from a dear friend, from The Secret.

Our highest power is love, and it is one thing each of us has an unlimited amount of. How much love do you give to others in one day? Each day we have an opportunity to set out with this great, unlimited power in our possession, and pour it over every person and circumstance.

Love is appreciating, complimenting, feeling gratitude, and speaking good words to others.
We have so much love to give, and the more that we give, the more we receive.

Every night before you fall asleep, replay in your mind the good moments of the day, and give heartfelt thanks for each one of them. Think about the next day also, and intend that it is going to be amazing, that it is going to be filled with love and joy, and that all good is coming to you. Intend that it is going to be the best day of your life. Then when you wake in the morning, BEFORE you get out of bed, declare your intentions again for the day and give deep thanks as though you have received them all. 

I’ve been doing the practice (imperfectly) at night and in the morning, and I can actually notice, in my heart and my body, the softening, lightening, the shift that happens when I open my heart.  It’s quite remarkable, the power of attention, and of love.

Then along came another opportunity!  I (received from another friend and) joined Three Days of Love, This is part of a Birth 2012 campaign by Barbara Marks Hubbard, who is a real force for conscious evolution.  I signed a pledge for the coming days to share words and actions of love.

You’ve heard, I expect, of how concentrated meditation affects not only our brains, but even the environment and possibly even crime rates.  So does concentrated love.  I invite you to join Three Days of Love too, and let’s keep on going, for the rest of our lives!  Let us be part of the transformation, healing ourselves, and our world .

May your solstice, holidays, and coming weeks and years, be rich, full of love and light, and participation in the great turning.

Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity.  BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, andgrowth.  Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume.  Follow me on Twitter, let’s be friends on Facebook