AWAKENING TO ALL THE LOVE

“Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside; it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you.” Eckhart Tolle

Malaprop’s Book Signing

When I think of love, I have to remind myself that it comes in many forms. There’s the romantic version with roses and champagne, kisses and hugs. There’s the long-lasting, deeper love that allows one to accept and solve the real problems that always arise in life and stay together over time. There’s the love of friendship and community, of being there for each other for fun and support. There’s the spiritual love that puts us in touch with something greater than ourselves, greater than anything we can find on the physical plane. There’s love of mankind that motivates us to become involved with helping those who have less than we do. There’s also the self-love that allows us to accept ourselves, be the best we can be, and see our mistakes as learning opportunities, not has a reason to condemn ourselves.

A Different Valentine’s Day

Last Friday, I read from my memoir Awakening to the Dance: A Journey to Wholeness at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville. It felt like Valentine’s Day, for the room was full of friends, acquaintances and strangers. Some were there just to support my writing efforts; some were there because they were curious about the story; others were there just because we love each other. Robin, who introduced me, made me sound like a celebrity. The audience was wonderfully responsive and asked great questions. It was fun to use my dramatic skills to interpret literature publicly – especially since it was my own creation, and I could see immediately the audience’s response to what I had written.

Surrounded by Loving Friends

Among my friends were several who have seen me through all kinds of challenges, especially the most difficult one, two years ago, when a love relationship ended. The pain overwhelmed me, but the constant flow of warm hugs and kind words helped me remember who I really was—a loving and loved woman. How they put up with my tears and lengthy sad stories I don’t know—actually I do know—they are incredibly loving people. Even if they thought my book was horrible, which they don’t, they would have come to this event because they know how much it took for me to complete it and put it out into the world. And they know that I hope that what I’ve learned will help someone else create a happier life.

Real Love Connects With Spirit

When I read Eckhart Tolle’s quote on love, I started searching for some articles and videos to share. In some of these writings, he points out that our love is often ego-based, but it is real love only when the transcendent becomes a part of it. He says, “Love becomes a source of suffering when the transcendental is missing.” Hmm.…So I’ve gathered some articles and videos by him because I think his work is so important for us to understand.

I’ve also written a lot about love this year and if you missed any of these posts, I’ve listed them for you. So, instead of doing a new post, I want to ask you to do this: look over the links below, trust your intuition, and when you feel drawn to one, look at it. It may be just what you need to hear today.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Remember we are all lovers. We don’t need anyone to complete us although it is always nice to share our love. Let the love within you fill your day. You are Love!

2 responses to “AWAKENING TO ALL THE LOVE”

Simon Attwood | February 14, 2013 at 4:50 am | Reply

Hi Georganne,

From my perspective, I believe Love only comes in one form, but that it so often gets twisted and transformed by fears. Some may be able to temporarily suspend those fears for only a short time and allow the love to dominate, but as soon as the fears fight back, and as fear is the polar opposite of love, a soon as the fear returns, love gets pushed to the back. I believe those “deeper” longer-lasting loves are just people that have a better handle and a better management of those fears and are able to keep them at bay. Some may find a common ground or truce between the love and fear, a balance. Some may flick back and forth between love and fear such as the Borderline type, and may never actually be able to endure love in the long-lasting, deeper sense because they experience that love as a threat, because their earliest experiences of emotional attachment stimulated fear which was imprinted upon their intrisic memory systems.

Like I said, it’s a different perspective, or way of looking at the expressed behaviours of love; All love is true, but many cannot tolerate or endure it for the long term because it triggers fears deep, overwhelming fears.
- Georganne Spruce | February 14, 2013 at 8:01 am | Reply
  
  Thank you, Simon, for your insightful comment. I also believe that fear is what keeps us from loving, but we can learn to release those fears. The trick is to be conscious enough to recognize the fear is blocking us and find a practice that will help us let go of it. This is why I have started teaching workshops on how to release your fear because learning to do that has been transforming for me. Namaste.