Yes, what about Love? We just passed Valentine’s Day, and I chose to send out a message about the Lunar/Chinese New Year, with this amazing picture, instead of a Valentine message. Love wasn’t on top right then for me, with all the chaos of January and February this year…. although, come to think about it, when I look at the young ox rider, my heart opens wide.

So yes, what about Love? As I age, I find I am softening, opening, becoming (yes, the title of my book!) more accepting of myself and others, changes in health, mine and others’, and by golly, I find I am becoming more loving. Praise be. Years ago, love seemed so grand, and I felt so small. Love seemed so perfect, and I anything but.  And now, well, it’s different.

Extremely helpful on this journey in a rich and earthy way, has been a quote by writer Courtney A. Walsh:

“Dear Human: You’ve got it all wrong. You didn’t come here to master unconditional love. That is where you came from and where you’ll return. You came here to learn personal love. Universal love. Messy love. Sweaty love. Crazy love. Broken love. Whole love. Infused with divinity. Lived through the grace of stumbling. Demonstrated through the beauty of… messing up. Often. You didn’t come here to be perfect. You already are. You came here to be gorgeously human. Flawed and fabulous. And then to rise again into remembering. But unconditional love? Stop telling that story. Love, in truth, doesn’t need ANY other adjectives. It doesn’t require modifiers. It doesn’t require the condition of perfection. It only asks that you show up. And do your best. That you stay present and feel fully. That you shine and fly and laugh and cry and hurt and heal and fall and get back up and play and work and live and die as YOU. It’s enough. It’s Plenty.” 

It’s not a new message, but I hope you enjoy this reprise. Courtney’s version is so very earthy and encouraging, and inviting.

So what’s right now?  Right now I am feeling a warmth in my heart thinking about all of you, gratitude for the blue sky, kindness, humor, family, music…life! And how about you?  What’s are you experiencing this very moment! I’d love to hear! We’re in this together.

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 🙂