Welcome to Joy Tip Wednesday. Where I've been collecting love letters from the Universe these days and I'm inviting you to do the same.
I came back from an amazing weekend in New York City and healed from a difficult couple of illnesses. My health, my emotional resilience, my mental strength, were challenged over the last couple of weeks. And for the first time in a while, I'm finally making my way back.
When my energetic battery feels low, I know it's time for some self care. For some more time in silence. Deep reflection. And maybe even a trip up to New York to see my teacher Sri Dharma Mittra. While classes with him, connection with amazing community, and time away refilled my battery so did something else. Love letters. Tons of them. From the Universe. They are always there when I'm receptive to them. But the question, is I'm willing, open, and ready to see the love letters that the Universe is writing back to me each and every day cheering me on? Telling me how much I'm always loved? How supported I am?
Here's the deal...we ALL receive love letters from the Universe. Every day. Actually...every moment really is a love letter if we are ready to read them. Pretty awesome right? And pretty special? Yes you are both, if I might say so! if we are ready to open ourselves to these love letters they might shift some things for us.
What are these love letters anyways? Love letters are little symbols, messages, moments, meanings, in life that the Universe is sending back to you. To guide you along the way. By the way, when I say Universe, you can replace that with many different words. God. You're Buddha Nature. The Soul. The Great Intelligence. Divine Mother. Call It what you wish. Words are limiting regardless. These days I like Universe because it's doesn't have the same patriarchal historical connotations that other words might carry. But who knows, that could change. I say all this to invite you to hear the word that resonates with you when I say Universe.
Back to love letters. They are everywhere. The smile on a strangers face when you pass them and you are having a good day. Did you see the Universe smiling back at you saying, "hey! I love you! I've got you!" or did you wonder if you had something in your teeth? Or reinforce your grumpiness about how annoying people are in your city? What about something "negative" like sickness? Yes. Sickness too is a love letter. I say this confidently after experiencing many bouts of sickness in my life. After dealing with a lot of sickness, health conditions, and doctors from day one in this world, I see every sickness, illness, new hurdle I experience with my health as a love letter. Mostly these love letters I receive I've come to know are invitations to slow down. To spend time in silence. To turn within. To check out where I'm coming out of balance. Where I've stretched too far. Where I haven't honored my boundaries. Where I haven't honored my voice. My truth.
What if you saw every experience as a love letter back to you? What might shift? What messages might you finally receive? What wisdom might you be gifted? What knowledge of yourself might you finally see? What amount of support would you finally feel?
Well, let's find out! For this Joy Tip Wednesday, let's practice watching for love letters:
- Make an intention to be open to receive. Intentions are everything. And in order to be able to be gifted, we have to intend to receive. It's one of the first laws of energy. To receive, you must intend to be open to receive.
- Listen, watch, feel. Start tuning in more to what you hear. Start tuning in more to what you see. Start tuning in more to what you feel. Start turning up the volume of your life to be present like never before. After intending to be open, you must practice being open.
- Notice the small things. Details matter. I'm not inviting you to notice the details to start overanalyzing your life. I'm inviting you to perhaps show up to your life for the first time. The number of times I've found myself walking in the streets of DC and pass by graffiti that is the Universe speaking right back to me about something I'm struggling with is remarkable. A bumper sticker. A tagline on a menu at your favorite restaurant. A heart symbol on the lamp post. A patch on a stranger's coat. Messages, symbols, notes, love letters are there when we pay attention. When you practice being open, you must practice paying attention.
- Say thank you for the letters you receive. Thank you is everything. It's part of the laws of energy. You have to be open to receive. Then when you receive you must say thank you back. When you receive, be grateful. Feel gratitude. Take a moment to acknowledge what you receive.
- Send a love letter back. Also part of the laws of energy is that when you receive and say thank you...make sure to give back! The energy cycle must continue. And we are sojourners to continue that love energy transmitting through the Universe. In fact, we are messengers for others's love letters without knowing it :) It's often when I have one of those ah ha love letter moments that I look up to the sky and smile, close my eyes, and from my heart up to the heavens say thank you and I love you back. I also send love letters back by channeling love in my classrooms when I teach. Giving to a homeless person in need. Holding a door. Telling the people I care about how much I love them. Being there to listen to a person in need. The ways we can give love back are endless.
- Start again. When I complete this cycle, I circle back to receive again. Because the more I honor these laws of energy, the more love letters I receive back.
Life is pretty magic. When I really pay attention to it, it's all just a never-ending sea of miracles. A neverending sea of love letters. Just another chance to wake up is a love letter in itself. Another chance to breathe. Another chance to eat my favorite fruit. Another chance to laugh with a friend. What else? But love letters. When we see this, even the challenging moments are quite magical. In even the challenging moments, we know we are loved. In even the challenging moments, we keep ourselves open rather than closed.
So go on receiving your mail. It's been coming to you for a long time. Your whole life actually! But perhaps you haven't been ready to receive it and have been sending it back to sender. This time, accept. Embrace. Hug it! And send some love letters back. Then, see what happens. What unfolds. See how you feel. What shifts. And then tell me about it. I'd love to hear about your love letters.
This week, I'm inviting you to love often. Love big. Love fearlessly. It's what I'm practicing. And I think it might be a more interesting place if we did a little more of it.