So now that we’re officially out of the woods of the Valentine’s-Day-madness, I thought I’d wipe the mascara streak off my cheeks, take a deep breath, and pull myself up from the proverbial bootstraps to address…..(wait for it)….. LOVE.

Ever been heartbroken? The romantic kind, I mean. Sigh. Sadly, it’s part of life. It’s part of this human dance we’ve all agreed to do, by coming into this world (a contract our Soul enthusiastically said yes to!) to feel all the feels…the pain, the glory, the triumph, the tragedy….the whole enchilada. Here’s the thing, though: We as (adorable) human beings love the love, but hate the hate. Of course we want to feel all the euphoric highs of love: Romance! Giddy anticipation! Butterflies in the tummy!….we just don’t want to feel all the other stuff…the let down, the fury, the anguish when someone says, “it’s over.”

Here’s the deal though. We live in a polarity planet. We live in a universe of Duality. So we gotta take the good with the bad. That means, AS you are falling head over heels in love, you also have the distinct wherewithal to know that the opposite side of the stick will surely rear its head. It’s just part of the process. The trick is, as we evolve in our consciousness to hold this awareness and not be attached to either team. Be able to know both sides, as my spirit animal Joni Mitchell says in her ballad:

“I’ve looked at love from both sides now

From give and take and still somehow

It’s love's illusions that I recall

I really don’t know love

Really don’t know love at all”

She so wisely realizes after it’s all said and done, that she knows less about love than ever before-and perhaps that’s the learning..to release the conceptual notion of what you think “love” is based on the movies, fairytales, books and stacks of Cosmo magazines and come into a real not-knowing of LOVE, based on your own experience. It’s never what we think it is, is it?

So, (romantic) love comes and goes. Is that morbid? Only if you’re hellbent on clinging to your idea of an everlasting, one soulmate, forever and ever thing that is propped up by fantasy and some hopeful wishing.

I only say this because I’ve been in love a few times. I've actually been married for a handful of years as well (And then, yes divorced too).

And YET! I continue to be a lover of Love! A hope(full not hopeless) romantic. An optimistic pursuant of chances to shine my heart light (another great jam by Neil Diamond!) An eternal Being who is here to fully experience all gamuts of this Love Thing, continuing to love in all ways, not just romantically, and not just through one person. How limited we make it when it has to be with a certain someone, when in actuality there is love all around?

Michael Singer talks about not closing the heart as our single most important work to do, in his book “The Untethered Soul”. It’s just when we feel hurt, heartbroken and bereft that the small personality self wants to turtle up, shut down and close off the heart so as to never get hurt again.

This works like, never.

And in the end, it only ends up keeping you, dear Soul cut off and shut down from all the ways you could be feeling love. So let’s take these learnings of love (the good, bad, and the ugly) and forge fully and confidently into the forest of Loving! Let us bravely and boldly continue to keep our hearts open, even as they bleed and ache and wonder if this is “the one”. Let us continue to show up in Love, while not even knowing what that is to participate as much as possible in this thing called Life.

Join me in the revolution to move forward, even while hurting, heartbroken and rightfully scared to show up in a space of openheartedness, bravery and willingness to Love. Look around. Be open to experiencing love in all its forms and the Flow of Love can’t help but gush to you….

In ever curiosity, xx Cristy

Once bitten, twice shy...