What is LOVE?

As we head towards Valentines Day here in the US the shelves are emptying of pink and red cards and chocolate. 

When did the definition of Love melt down to pink, red and chocolates? 

Oh I forgot the flowers. 

Don't get me wrong, I AM a romantic and love all of the above-mentioned gifts, but they are not necessary to demonstrate LOVE.

So what exactly is LOVE?

Love and the Senses

Love and Sight

You give witness, hopefully regularly, to Love in action.

• A door held open for another
• Flowers purchased for another
• Cards galore purchased, mailed and received
• Errands run for another
• Gifts exchanged

These are all acts of Love. You are not seeing Love. What you are seeing are the effects of Love. I love my parents, as example, and will order the local eggs weekly for them even though they are perfectly capable of getting their own. I love friends and family and make Christmas stockings, pillows, etc as a token of my love for them.

You still don't see Love. You see the effects of it. 

Love and Hearing

I see you are still grappling with cannot be heard. It is true. Love cannot BE heard. Words of Love are spoken, but it cannot be heard at its core. Music may play that invokes the feeling of Love, but love at its purest cannot be heard. 

I may, or you may say I love you to another. Once again, this is an expression of Love. 

You literally cannot hear Love. 

Love and Scent

Perhaps you heard I love you for the first time on a summer day just after the grass was cut. Every time you smell freshly cut grass, you sigh and smile. This is a memory of when you heard love expressed and associated it with the smell of grass. 

Once again, you cannot smell love. 

Love and Taste

Don't you, excuse the pun, love a great meal prepared just for you? Me too. Whether it is prepared from your beloved or another, that meal is an expression.

I still remember a trip my husband and I were on; traipsing across Prince Edward Island and tracking down Anne of Green Gables. We pulled into a seaside shanty restaurant in the middle of nowhere. The magic was just beginning. We sat on the deck overlooking the water and the gulls patiently waited along the roof line for an opportunity to swoop down for their meal. 

They never got a chance with us; we're savvy that way.

However, this meal exploded in my mouth. I could feel every texture, nuance, and taste each and every ingredient. It was magic exploding inside my mouth. A party of the highest order. Over fifteen years later I still remember.

Was it love? Certainly not, but a memory that fills the vault of magic.

Remember, you cannot taste love no matter how sensually the food is prepared and presented.

Love and Feeling

Here's where we get to the core of the heart. Love is a feeling! 

Unfortunately a feeling that has had many parameters and conditions loaded on top of its purity. 

• I'll love you, when....
• I'll love you, if...
• I love you, did you...

You have uttered phrases like this; please don't deny it. All have uttered these kinds of phrases. Humankind has been conditioned to make LOVE conditional. 

It is not conditional.

Love at its purity is loving another for whom they are; not what they look like or can do for you. 

Let's make a pact, like right now. That when you next say you love somebody, do not add the word but. I love them, but when they....

No more.

This topic is very close to my heart. Awakening more to the realization that Love is Pure and there is simply nothing more powerful.

Nothing.

AND there are no conditions.

The Magdalene has something to say

No surprise that The Magdalene wishes to be highlighted in this week's blog edition. 

Love is her platform. It always has been.

Lean in as she shares a bit:

My Darling Child

In this month of Love

so many run off here and there to purchase tokens

These tokens are indeed lovely to receive, but not necessary when sharing love. 

It is LOVE that brought you and another together. 

Many relationships are at a crossroads of sorts at this moment. They have the decision to stay in Love, if it ever was, or to walk away and free each other to embrace Love with another. This may sound harsh coming from me, but if you are unhappy, there is no love. 

Love can be challenging for the ego likes to rule and as you know it rules with fear, anger, competition, greed, etc. 

Love rules with Love.

Love rules with acceptance. 

Love rules with abandon and freedom.

A leader who is love-based shows its followers how to help themselves.

A leader who is love-based offers words and tools to raise up the masses. 

A leader may challenge another to crack the shield of protection held in place for decades for it serves them not. It is better to stand in Love and BE vulnerable than to stand in superiority-ship.

Would you not agree?

The same holds true for all relationships. 

Remember, you do not know the full ramifications of another's life unless you have walked every step of the way with them. Therefore, Love is understanding. Love is compassionate to another's trials and tribulations. Love is patient. 

Love is not harried and hurried. But a journey to savor and relish. 

As Christine is now reminding you, the greatest love story of all time is the Love you share with yourself. 

For the more you honor you, your dreams, you, the more you will and do attract those that are in alignment with you. 

There is no need for the fluff, vulgarity, and 'snake oil' to bring love closer. 

Simply BE true to you. 

You are perfect in this moment and the next and the next. 

There is no need to change in order to BE loved. 

I am here to tell you now that 

YOU. ARE. LOVED.

In closing

I'm going to allow The Magdalene's words to simply stand on their own merit. 

If you have not joined us yet for next week's experience on Facebook, please consider this your loving invite. Click here to join us.

Until next week, I lovingly wish you calm moments, love-filled days and beyond.