'Cause if you like the way you look that much
Oh baby, you should go and love yourself
And if you think that I'm still holdin' on to somethin'
You should go and love yourself.
~ Love Yourself, lyrics by Ed Sheeran, song by Justin Bieber
Because Human-ing is harder than Adulting. This is a weekly publication for heart-centered warriors, swimming through this thing called Life.
Selected Readings and Songs:
Reasons to Live, Ruth Awad
I Would Like, Jane Hirshfield
Love Me Love JeJe, Tems (song)
Dear Embodied Hearts and Dancing Souls,
I had lovely realizations around what will support me for an endevaor I step into in August. (After four years of holding it in my heart, I will get to bring InterPlay to my local Unity church!) There is so much clarity and nuance available to each of us when we invite in the question that needs our attention the most. This week’s question is at the bottom of the letter.
Turbulent Times. I have been sick and felt whiny for a few days. Who knew we would be the ones to live through such turbulent times? I can almost see the images and headlines from the past few weeks and months encapsulated in historical documentaries. The passing of Bastille Day reminds me of how power dynamics can change in brutal instants, all while folding the laundry.
A dear friend sent along…what else…a poem called Reasons to Live. It helped me get out of bed. Listen to me read it aloud here.
Mouthpieces. I feel tested. Its harder to live the way I’ve been practicing:
Breathe,
Stay in the Moment,
Listen for what’s mine to do or say.
Its hard to stay committed to this when part of my mind wants to rant. And this Power shit is especially challenging for me. (The conservative right is too cowardly to put their agenda into a true referendum vote; instead they use Executive orders and Court rulings.)
What I wonder is, where are our mouth pieces? Where are the megaphones into which we might sing: God loves Healthy Women too! God loves when I make up my own mind! (let me know if you have others!).
The lyrics from the Love Yourself song are intentional. Whenever people want to impale their viewpoint on you, its a form of vanity. I got this hilarious image of a mob with pitchforks screaming something about Jesus and Babies and a group facing them singing, “You should Go Love Yourself.”
Love Yourself to Stay Here. This is the work?? Some of you have a knowing of what is yours to do or say. If so, go forward and swim in that stream. Now is the time. For others it might be tending our life-force.
This morning my Qijong teacher reminded me that the most important thing is to not Bypass your feelings. Feelings like fear or anger. Your body knows how to have your feelings without reacting. Breathe them through, Move them through. This is the work of right now.
That’s where I am right now. Last night I took a deep breath. I took a moment to remember I am breathing which means I am still being breathed. I take that as an invitation to breathe fully into my heart. To feel into the light that immediately fills up my chest. I am empowered by this. I know this is true. You are too! What I must learn to do is listen to this Light. That is this week’s question:
What fills your heart with Light?
With so much Love for you, your journey and your unfolding.
Stay #heartwoke.
Monisha
Thank you, Monisha!
Your recitation took me back to an "alternative reality" I like to choose....need to choose and have so much gratitude for. Homage to the Great Mother, dripping with beauty and wonder, beckoning all of us to just notice.