<a href=”http://thesoulsource.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/images5BDXXYV7.jpg”><img class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-2952″ src=”http://thesoulsource.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/images5BDXXYV7.jpg” alt=”images5BDXXYV7″ width=”274″ height=”184″></a>Love – it’s everywhere this week or at least one is left with that impression. If you opened the weekend paper you couldn’t help but notice that almost every advertisement featured love this week – flowers, cards, candy, and even red kitchen appliances! Turn on the television and similar sales pitches abound — ‘show her your love with a keepsake diamond pendant’. And how about your weekly foray to the grocery store, did you succumb to the beautiful bouquets of pink, white and red flowers or the abundance of heart shaped chocolate candies or balloons?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m every bit as sentimental as the next person, admittedly having sent my share of paper hearts over the years and distributed many miniature heart shaped candies stamped with ‘luv you, you’re special and be mine’ to family, friends and romantic interests. But as we approach the annual commemoration of love, I am mindful that this bombardment trivializes our most cherished emotional experience and obscures an important dimension – self love.
Fortunately most of our lives have been enriched by love: the love of parents, siblings or other family members; the shared loved of friends; the unconditional love of loyal pets; the love that enflames passion; and the love that binds lifelong commitments — each a beautiful manifestation of love. Yet the mosaic of love is not complete without self love.
So many of us, in fact too many of us, have difficulty with this concept. Not too long ago I realized a possible correlate to this challenge that many of us face. Many religious traditions embed a command to love God above all things and to love thy neighbor as thyself. While loving oneself is clearly implied, its importance did not even warrant separate emphasis. So oddly enough self love is not explicitly dictated in the values that have shaped the core beliefs of many of us.
The big idea that so many religions remain silent on is that each of us is divine. Each of us is a spark of the All and the Everything (Alpha and Omega), the creative force, the Source of all that is – the mystery we named God. Give this, each of us warrants self devotion; not in any inflated way but in a way that honors the God within. When working with those struggling with self love, I have been known to challenge – “would you treat God that way?” … How do you answer that question or the next? Are you on your own list of priorities? And if you are on your own list, where do you fall on the list? If you are truthful, would you answer that you are near the top or routinely on the bottom of your list?
So this week don’t wait for your child, friend, lover or spouse to buy you that special something. Go out and buy yourself candied hearts, sort through the bag to find one that reads “love you” and put it somewhere prominent. Let it be a joyful reminder that self love is the highest and purist love. Let self love become a living meditation, your silent devotion to the divine within! Joanne
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