For years I've been talking with my friends about LoveFesting. I see this Festival of Love as the connection of deep love that runs between the loved ones' overflowing hearts. This phrase can be adopted and adapted as the user lovingly intends. I have been LoveFesting for years.
I have had three big romantic relationships in my life. My first was when I was 18, leaving my parents' home, adrift in the big world for the first time. I wanted to be loved. I found a partner who could help me find more of myself in the swirl of life, though not a great long term match. I was thankful to move beyond that first relationship.
When I met M, I had been working full-time, going to school half-time, learning to fly tiny airplanes as a student pilot, ice skating every weekend, gathering regularly with a wonderful group of coworkers, attending family reunions, driving around the country, and embracing independence and adventure. I was very happy, full, and LoveFesting with healthy people. M found me dancing in a little bar on Belmont in Portland, Oregon. I was dancing with friends, two men and one woman. M asked me if I wanted to dance. In my literalism and defiance, I kept dancing without response. I didn't need a dance partner to continue dancing. So we danced... into the night. The first thing I asked him was if he smoked. It was a bad habit I didn't want to bring into my life. 18 years later he died of non-smoker's lung cancer. In the meantime, M brought amazing security, grounding, safety, resilience, determination, integrity, persistence, and loyalty into my life. We had beautiful adventures of travel and dining and settling and playing and dancing and bringing babies into our world and parenting. We grew and expanded and embraced and laughed and cried and held on through extraordinary adventures. I am thankful in every moment that he asked me if I wanted to dance. And that we kept dancing. In our lives together, we had one amazing LoveFest.
After M's death, I held onto my dear friends, riding out the thunderstorms and waves of loss and transition. By necessity, I stepped into my ability to manage more than I ever have before. I moved into mothering three young children on my own while also managing an entire world of other details M had finessed. I found ways to play with my friends, to focus upon what was most important, to make the most of the last minute, to find some balance in the endless waves of lists, to juggle the needs of others and myself. As a necessity for my healthy, my meditation and gratitude practice took flight. In all the ups and downs of this part of my life, I trusted the waves to carry me higher than I'd ever been.
And that was the place in which I got to reconnect with my friend J. He had been finding the shape of hearts in his life for as long as he could remember, sending photos of these hearts to his parents and son. He manifested love in beautiful ways as I LoveFested with my people. When J asked to hold my hand on our first walk, neither of us were looking for romance. We were simply walking and laughing with a friend who held beautiful energy. We found it easy to love one another, to raise the other up just by being ourselves.
As our personal heart-centered LoveFest expands and includes more people, we find great comfort in the connections we share, in the high vibrations we grow, in how our love for one another makes us stronger on our own. J reminds me often that he is simply holding a mirror up for me to see the beauty others already see in me, that I am strong and capable on my own. He helps me to stand in my own power as we walk side by side. We talk often about how it is such a gift and a privilege to have had two great loves in our lives, of the privilege of bringing our first great loves so fully into our current relationship. We are aware of the blessings and challenges in our situation. Together we are grateful for each step of the way as we intentionally raise each other up. In all my life, I have never known so acutely the results of manifesting my destiny through raising my thoughts. In holding gratitude for my unfolding story, I add sparkle and delight to whatever unfolds. I am so very grateful for these blessings in my life, in the lives of my children. We are blessed beyond measure and we will not take that for granted. We lovingly continue on with our LoveFest.
I have had three big romantic relationships in my life. My first was when I was 18, leaving my parents' home, adrift in the big world for the first time. I wanted to be loved. I found a partner who could help me find more of myself in the swirl of life, though not a great long term match. I was thankful to move beyond that first relationship.
When I met M, I had been working full-time, going to school half-time, learning to fly tiny airplanes as a student pilot, ice skating every weekend, gathering regularly with a wonderful group of coworkers, attending family reunions, driving around the country, and embracing independence and adventure. I was very happy, full, and LoveFesting with healthy people. M found me dancing in a little bar on Belmont in Portland, Oregon. I was dancing with friends, two men and one woman. M asked me if I wanted to dance. In my literalism and defiance, I kept dancing without response. I didn't need a dance partner to continue dancing. So we danced... into the night. The first thing I asked him was if he smoked. It was a bad habit I didn't want to bring into my life. 18 years later he died of non-smoker's lung cancer. In the meantime, M brought amazing security, grounding, safety, resilience, determination, integrity, persistence, and loyalty into my life. We had beautiful adventures of travel and dining and settling and playing and dancing and bringing babies into our world and parenting. We grew and expanded and embraced and laughed and cried and held on through extraordinary adventures. I am thankful in every moment that he asked me if I wanted to dance. And that we kept dancing. In our lives together, we had one amazing LoveFest.
After M's death, I held onto my dear friends, riding out the thunderstorms and waves of loss and transition. By necessity, I stepped into my ability to manage more than I ever have before. I moved into mothering three young children on my own while also managing an entire world of other details M had finessed. I found ways to play with my friends, to focus upon what was most important, to make the most of the last minute, to find some balance in the endless waves of lists, to juggle the needs of others and myself. As a necessity for my healthy, my meditation and gratitude practice took flight. In all the ups and downs of this part of my life, I trusted the waves to carry me higher than I'd ever been.
And that was the place in which I got to reconnect with my friend J. He had been finding the shape of hearts in his life for as long as he could remember, sending photos of these hearts to his parents and son. He manifested love in beautiful ways as I LoveFested with my people. When J asked to hold my hand on our first walk, neither of us were looking for romance. We were simply walking and laughing with a friend who held beautiful energy. We found it easy to love one another, to raise the other up just by being ourselves.
As our personal heart-centered LoveFest expands and includes more people, we find great comfort in the connections we share, in the high vibrations we grow, in how our love for one another makes us stronger on our own. J reminds me often that he is simply holding a mirror up for me to see the beauty others already see in me, that I am strong and capable on my own. He helps me to stand in my own power as we walk side by side. We talk often about how it is such a gift and a privilege to have had two great loves in our lives, of the privilege of bringing our first great loves so fully into our current relationship. We are aware of the blessings and challenges in our situation. Together we are grateful for each step of the way as we intentionally raise each other up. In all my life, I have never known so acutely the results of manifesting my destiny through raising my thoughts. In holding gratitude for my unfolding story, I add sparkle and delight to whatever unfolds. I am so very grateful for these blessings in my life, in the lives of my children. We are blessed beyond measure and we will not take that for granted. We lovingly continue on with our LoveFest.
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| Intentional manifestation |
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