Love. It took me a long time to really notice the ways in which my external love towards others is powerfully shaped by the internal love I have towards myself. What I’ve found is that when your love output becomes greater than your input, it’s easy to overlook the utter delight and richness that the gift of love can bring.
What I mean by that is, loving yourself and loving others is a beautiful balance. I believe love is a dance of giving and receiving. When we are in love with ourselves, we give ourselves the freedom and space to bloom, to rest, to be. And that love crystallizes into something that we want to share with others so that they can experience the spaciousness and warmth of love, however it looks for them.
When we withhold love from ourselves, it’s easy to move from a more constrictive place of anger, bitterness, or self-loathing. Moving from those spaces shapes the ways in which we can love others, too. Opportunities to love begin to look like obligations. Extending help to someone we love begins to build resentment. It’s easy to lose our way when love feels burdened by the have-to’s and should’s.
In those moments, where loving others feels rocky and tough, we can look inward to how we’re extending love to ourselves. “What do I need at this moment to feel the warmth of love’s face?”
Then give it to yourself or be open to receiving it from others. That one small drop of love will ripple outward and will empower you to embody love to all those you meet along the way.
Christianna x
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