Whisper Awake

When asked why we are here, the late Irish poet John O’Donohue would answer, to love and to learn to receive love.

Unconditional love. Love that sees all and beholds all. Love that is grounding. Love that takes flight. Love that is everchanging.

And that love is our birthright. Our truest nature. Yet, we often live as if love can only be bestowed upon us or earned through sacrifice and self-negation. This is not love. This is fear. This is pain speaking.

Pain that can only be healed by finding the wellspring of love within us. If we have ever loved anyone or anything, we have known love. Which means we can tap into that part of ourselves and, as John O’Donohue says, whisper awake the deep well of love.

Here is a practice I have adapted from John O’Donohue; I call it Whisper Awake:

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. You can even do this before sleeping or when you first wake up. Close your eyes and imagine that deep within your being is a tiny well. And, in this well is small bubbling and flowing of water. Water that is golden, iridescent, mesmerizing. And this water is your love. And you ask the water to flow into the parts of you are hardened and dry, that need softness and gentleness. Imagine the water starting to move throughout you, into your physical pain and loneliness. Into your feelings of self-doubt and patterns of self-destruction. Into your needs and locked away memories. And let this water fill you with light and gentle love and warmth. Take as much time as you need, and rest in this familiar knowing.

Blessings