Love

"To live, to work, to play are really One. 

If you ask me, the most Creative thing we can do is to Love people."

Vincent Van Gogh




photo of Starry Night

The River

THE RIVER

"There is a River that flows through us.  An ancient, eternal river, unchanging since the beginning of time. 

We glide across its surface, we splash in its shallows and dive into into its depths.

It scalds us as a desert hot-spring, and freezes us as an ice-choked arctic stream.

Sometimes we forget, for a moment, to do Good Work.  We forget to know how others should live.  We forget to fight against evil and injustice.  We forget to fear loss and even death.

In these moments—fleeting and ethereal yet essentially beautiful—we may catch a genuine glimpse of the river itself.  We see it winding peacefully and undisturbed through the green and tangled undergrowth of our many lives. 

It may, for an instant, look like a baby’s smile, a lover’s touch or a flaming sunset.  It may sound like a tiny bamboo wind-chime, the wail of a saxophone or the nearly-deafening roar of Niagra falls.  It may, for the briefest moment, taste like chocolate or smell like fresh-roasted coffee beans. 

We think of it as the one, or two, or one hundred, or ten-thousand things.  It is none of these, and all of them.  We try to think it looks, sounds, feels, tastes and smells like something, because this is what we know, what we think we need.

The River needs nothing.  It carries us always, and invites us to float easily along its shallows or to thrash mightily to survive its rapids—whatever we prefer.  It has no messages for us, no secrets, no instructions or duties or threats or restrictions.  It flows unceasingly, generously, without thought or opinion.  We drink of it as we wish.

It has, of course, no name, but we—often preferring words—might call it Love."

-Anonymous

Love

"Love is the real power. It's the energy that cherishes. The more you work with that energy, the more you will see how people respond naturally to it, and the more you will want to use it. It brings out your creativity, and helps everyone around you flower. Your children, the people you work with--everyone blooms." 

-Marion Woodman

What Do You Love?

"You will enjoy any activity in which you are truly present, any activity that is not just a means to an end.

It isn't the action you perform that you really enjoy, but the deep sense of aliveness that flows into it."

Eckhart Tolle   from Oneness With All Life

What Tolle is speaking to here is being alert in our daily activities in such a way as to promote stillness within you that is "the background of the activity". (Tolle)  Immediately my mind went to the yea buts which included things I don't like to do ie how can I possibly enjoy them? But upon looking more closely, I found that many of the daily activities which can be tedious and which could include driving, laundry, dishes, chores, even obligatory email exchanges can in fact be far less stressful, even positive when bringing alertness into the picture.

One of the most simple ways to begin this process is to bring your attention to your breath. The act of shifting attention to our breathing brings us into the present moment and allows us to become more alert and centered. Once we become alert, then we are no longer resisting the activity in which we are engaged and we can enjoy the flow of conscious awareness into our actions and we may even begin to enjoy life more fully.