I awake at the witching hour and after wrestling out some thoughts within my journal, I choose to send out loving kindness. Sometimes I wonder if my mind gets focused on a specific person because they need that from me.
“May you be safe. May you be loved. May you be healthy. May you be content. May you forgive yourself. May you find the healing you seek. May you be free.”
Everyday, I listen to various versions, or I make up my own, and send them out into the cosmos.
“You are safe. You are healing. You are finding your way. You are divinely protected. You are thought of. You are appreciated. You are cherished. You are loved. You are free.”
I send it out to those I find difficult too. To those whose energy seems sharp towards me; cold, catty. I know it comes from their own insecurities and pain as I have them too.
I send out love and kindness to all those they love and cherish as well.
“May your loved ones be safe. May your loved ones be healthy. May your loved ones be content. May your loved ones be free.”
I cannot change the world but I can choose how I act. I can choose how I show up. I can choose what I put out.
I’m far from perfect so I choose to integrate this practice into my life. When things feel hard, I can meditate. I can repeat these lines like a mantra in my head no matter where I am. I can send out love and kindness to specific people I know, to familiar faces I see yet know little about, to strangers on the street, or to those in the world I may never meet.
It’s easiest to start this practice with people whom I find easy to love.
I wonder sometimes when I bless a stranger, if I knew their political leanings, or their religious beliefs; if I knew how they treated someone who could do nothing for them, would I still bless them?
It’s a blessing in itself to be blind to these things so I can meet all as equal—my fellow human beings.
We all need love. We all need love. Kindness and love are not to be offered out of reciprocity nor because of good deeds. I do not love you because you love me. I do not love you because you earned it. I love you because love is who I am. It’s where I came from and where I’ll return to. It’s what I’m here for. I know I’m not alone in that. I see others shining this same love around me.
The emptiness is vast and deep but gosh, the stars bring a beauty that can only be seen because they’re surrounded by darkness. This too is a gift. This too is a gift. The night is as holy as the day.