​Any interaction you have with another person, carefully examined, will reveal how well you are embodying your true self.
 
By noticing the feelings that come up when you are in the company of another, you are given a unique opportunity to take a closer look at yourself. Until now, your tendency may have been to focus on what he is doing wrong, what she is doing to make you feel badly about yourself. As long as you are in relationship, the invitation will consistently be offered to stop pointing the finger at someone else for making you feel less-than-wonderful and look in the mirror of your own perceptions.
 
Pointing a compassionate finger back at yourself is a powerful invitation to let go of false understandings and release them to love.

​As we age, the more we may realize that not much in life matters if we don't have love. Love of a partner, of family and friends. Love of work and creative expression. Love of the Earth and her bounty. Love of growth and the opportunity to be all that we can be. But in order to receive this love, we must have an open heart. We must be able to fully give love, too.
 
Today, set the intention to live with a wide-open heart as best you can; to not shut down or close off to others; to not judge or discriminate or neglect. Extend yourself to others and strive to live with unconditional friendliness toward all beings—both animal and human. This is a life worth living, one rooted in love.

​©2024, Janice L. Lundy

​The divine is found in every form, in every person with whom you cross paths, even those individuals who appear to be the most difficult. Every human being is fashioned with an all-knowing hand. Each is struggling to live with as little discomfort and the highest degree of happiness that’s possible. We are more alike than we are different. 
 
Knowing this, how shall we choose to treat one another? If I am you and you are me, how shall we live?

​Learning to live through your spiritual identity takes time. As children, we first had to learn to crawl, then to walk. When we took those first faltering steps we were down on the floor more than we were up walking. We'd fall, get up, try again, and, inevitably fall some more until our body/mind system came together to perform the astounding task of balancing perfectly while standing, then moving about with ease on two legs.
 
The same is true for learning to walk in the world as a loving, compassionate presence. It takes practice, and a divine readiness of body, mind and spirit coming together in exactly the right way. Let us be patient and kind with ourselves as we learn to let go and live into Love.

​©2024 Janice L. Lundy

As we spend more time with others this holiday season, I offer this gentle reminder:

​It is easy to love those who love us, more difficult to love those who don't. The invitation of Love is to develop our inner being to the point where we see and experience "the One" in all its forms. 
 
We never know where sacred messengers will be found. The Persian poet and sage, Rumi, counseled us, "Be grateful for whomever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond." Divine connection is found in every form, whether it is a fellow traveler with whom we have instantaneous connection, the irksome stranger who tests our patience, or the loved one who is a perpetual thorn in our side. All are of the One. 

​©2023, Janice L. Lundy

​As we journey inward, we may be urged to examine the true nature of our relationships. Seldom do they resemble the photos on greeting cards depicting lovers passionately entwined before a glorious sunset. In real life, our relationships are full of ups and downs, periods of challenge balanced with periods of great joy. If anything, these periods are our greatest teachers. 
 
Our personal journey to awakened living is validated not by being alone, but in relationship with others. Learning how to love, teaches us how to live.

The older we get the more we may realize that not much in life matters if we don't have love. Love of family and friends. Love of work and creative expression. Love of the Earth and her bounty. Love of growth and the opportunity to be all that we can be. But in order to receive this love, we must have an open heart. We must be able to fully give love, too.
 
Today let us re-dedicate ourselves to living with wide-open hearts as best we can; to not shut down or close off to others; to not judge or discriminate or neglect. Let us extend ourselves to others as best we can. Let us live with unconditional friendliness toward all beings, both animal and human. Let us we be kind.
 
This is a life worth living, one rooted in love.

©2023, Janice L. Lundy
​

These days, this is very much where I find myself:

The older we get the more we may realize that not much in life matters if we don't have love. Love of family and friends. Love of work and creative expression. Love of the Earth and her bounty. Love of growth and the opportunity to be all that we can be. But in order to receive this love, we must have an open heart. We must be able to fully give love, too.
 
Today let us re-dedicate ourselves to living with wide-open hearts as best we can; to not shut down or close off to others; to not judge or discriminate or neglect. Let us extend ourselves to others as best we can. Let us live with unconditional friendliness toward all beings, both animal and human. Let us we be kind.
 
This is a life worth living, one rooted in love.

Love naturally resides within you. It is ever present. You do not have to actively search for it, combing the world for the perfect partner to have it. It may sound trite but it takes diving into your own depths to pull up the love that is there to get the love that you’ve always wanted.

Begin by showering it upon yourself; accepting yourself in all your pain and glory as a sacred being having a very human (and sometimes painful) experience of life. Then, as you begin to fill your own well with love, more love will bubble up, like water from a natural spring. From there, it will organically flow out from you and into the world for others to feel. They will want to be close to it, desire to drink of it themselves. 
 
The cycle of love flows most sincerely from self to others and back to self again.

​©2023, Janice L. Lundy