Project: Open the Heart

We all know the pain of hurt feelings and rejection.  But heartbreak isn’t only the end:  it can be the beginning too.  A heart broken open is already transforming.  While you mourn the loss, visualize yourself stepping into the space left in the breach.  Now you have room to view the situation clearly.  Sit with your feelings till you see whether to mend the relationship from a more enlightened perspective, or to move on.

Practice: Love Letters

Once upon a time, friends, family, and lovers corresponded.  Whether written on cream vellum or a page torn from a notebook, their words reflected an investment of time and consideration–not a half-formed thought dashed off before pushing “Send.”  Revive the art of the letter.  Pick four people you cherish and send them each a handwritten note.  Be real, not florid.  Write from the heart.  Use beautiful stationery:  presentation counts.

Universe of Love

Many relationships run into trouble because the other person fails to act as a convincing representative of our own personality or world-view.  However, a truly reciprocal relationship is based on whole-hearted acceptance of otherness.  We grow by taking the loved one’s individuality into ourselves and accepting it, not as our own but as something precious we respect and enjoy–a unique star in our universe.  True love is a crystal chalice, not a mirror.

The Elegant Game

The latest entry from the One Spirit Book of Days:

Two armies confront each other across the battlefield.  Each has one aim in mind:  to capture the other’s king.  This doesn’t sound like too wholesome a scenario, yet chess has an intellectual beauty that takes it above brute competitiveness.  Like the best worldly pastimes, it carries us away from ourselves, holding back the pressures of everyday life for an hour or two.  If you’ve never tried the game, learning to play offers a sociable mind gym.

Shades of Intimacy

Maternal joy is the epitome of family harmony.  Among adults the rewards of blood kinship will often be more elusive.  You may fall out with some relatives or become indifferent to others–that’s your prerogative.  Taking a different path, you may find you have little in common with your cousin, your nephew, or even your sister.  But it’s worth making an unexpected overture.  When relatives rediscover love or friendship for each other, a rip in the social fabric is healed.

May’s Focus–Nurturing Relationships

So, with April’s focus of raising our energy as our background, we move into May with the intention of creating nurturing relationships.  I think I’ll like this focus!  I don’t have a cell phone.  I still use maps.  And I enjoy a good ol’ fashioned letter.  I occasionally like the–ahem–conveniences of technology, but I prefer good quality connections with people.  How great is it to get a phone call instead of an e-mail?  Amen!  Here’s to May and Nurturing Relationships!!

Social networking websites would have us believe that what counts in friendship is quantity.  But once we pry ourselves away from the computer screen, we realize that what really matters are the people we hold close and see in 3-D–a considerably smaller number.  Texting and e-mail can’t substitute for face-to-face conversation and physical contact.  “My friends are my estate,” Emily Dickinson wrote.  Protect your wealth by cultivating intimacy in real time and space.