Love, Fear, and Wildflowers

Welcome to May! The wildflowers are still happy and blooming here in Central Texas. The morning air is cool and the sun is bright. Everywhere I look I see the Earth is celebrating coming through that icy February storm. Things are unusually lush in the ATX. 

Which is why it seems crazy that I'm going away from all of this for a rejuvenating retreat in Chacala, Mexico with my Prana Shakti dance teacher, Dr. Deb Kern, all next week. But just like Mother Earth is looking refreshed after a long winter’s nap, we, too, need to refill our cups from time to time. This is how I will let go of my efforts from the past six months, and refill with new, refreshed energy for the next six months–when I’ll be with many of you as you refresh under the October full moon at WonderFULL! 

Because how can we pour out if we don’t pour in?

That’s just how it is! Except in the case of love. Love is different. By pouring it out, we actually get refilled. It multiplies with use. Love begets love. We can never receive too much, and we can give it in endless supply as well. 

We can pour it out because it is what we are. We give from our essence. Our essence is infinite.

Love is reflective–you see it in the world if you shine it out from yourself. I learned this idea from my dad, and I think it’s very true.

When I was 13 I had a bunny. I LOVED this bunny! I got this bunny for Easter, but really my parents gave him to me to help me overcome the heartbreak of not making my middle school cheerleading squad. I was devastated! But then I got the cutest little brown and white Dutch rabbit you have ever seen! I named him Snickers, and he became my world. I built a beautiful rabbit run in the backyard, I made a long leash of shoe strings so I could take him on walks around the front yard. He was litter box trained so he could hang with me in my bedroom or chill on the hearth when I was watching TV. I took him with me everywhere in his own little basket. I could hold him in my arms like a baby and feed him parsley straight into his little chomping mouth, which is probably what I was doing when my dad said to me,

“You know, bunnies don’t really have love of their own to give. He’s really a reflection of all the love you give him.” 

He wasn’t giving me LOVE back. He was just being a bunny and receiving all that love–but I SAW this love as a two way street. As I looked at Snickers through the eyes of love, my experience of love only grew. He couldn’t give it back, yet in my heart I felt love multiply. 

It seems to me that this is how our eyes work as well. If we look at the world through the light of our heart, the world reflects back to us with love and compassion. We can then see others as lovable, we have empathy for our neighbor’s distress, we see opportunities to serve others and allow ourselves to be helped and be loved–the heart walls come down. (Listen and learn about heart chakra imbalances in this week’s episode 12 of Jess on the Mountain: Self Love and Relationships.) 

We also see the world as a less hostile place. Think about this: everything that goes into you through your eyes and ears affects your whole system–and the way you see the world. So if you spend time listening to, reading, or watching things that are meant to stoke fear or paranoia, that is how you will see the world.  Your environment will look scarier than it is because you are looking at it through fear, not love. 

Remember–fear sells. 

Our brains are hard-wired to seek out danger, and much of the media we consume knows this and capitalizes on it.  Our brains are also hard-wired to organize and create divisions. Our brains are naturally dual, which means there is “self” and “other.” This is an ancient survival mechanism. As soon as you hear a writer or media personality refer to “they” or “them” and what “they” are doing to harm “you” and “our” way of life, they are exploiting our instincts.  Fear is the tactic and paranoia is the result. Do not fall for it, stop engaging with it, and return to your heart. Return to love. Whomever “they” are–pray for them, bless them, or send them loving kindness. But don’t fear “them.” 

This is called “othering,” and it breaks the global heart. 

I wonder if the beautiful wildflowers that are bursting out everywhere around us this May worry that the Bluebonnets are getting out of their designated area.  I wonder if the Black-Eyed Susans fear the encroachment of the Sunflowers. Do you think the Blackfoot Daisies roll their eyes at the Texas Thistle or worry that their daughter might cross-pollinate with some Autumn Sage? 

Me neither.

So when we see flowers, may we see love. And when we see each other, may we only see flowers. 

Much love