It took me decades to truly grasp that I have value and worth whether or not I am pleasing a soul, working “miracles,” or making a junk journal. When I look back on my life, some of my happiest moments have been in front of large audiences, and some have been quietly admiring a ladybug crawling up my eggplant in the backyard. Some have been listening to glorious music while sitting outdoors, and some have been sitting in quiet appreciation for my cozy socks at the end of the day. I’ve had incredible moments of compassion for total strangers and rapt awe for the smooth and perfect shape of an egg in my hands before it became my breakfast. All of these moments look different. They all have various forms. However, they share a common vibration of love. The ripples in the pond are the same.
I know so many of you beautiful souls who—like I used to—judge yourself based on your actions. “What am I doing with my life?” is a common lament. Better to ask, “Who am I being?” No one else may see the tremendous value of a day in which you appreciate a few of the simple things in life, but the value is there.
The farther I walk upon this path, the more I delight in the simple pleasures. The big ones are still fun, but gluing a collage of paper into a journal is a moment of absolute joy for me, as is making a new t-shirt design or a child’s coloring page. Do these things have value compared to “healing the sick” or “comforting the hurting?” The angels would say they are all equal as long as they are done with equal amounts of love.
How can we compare “amounts of love?” I don’t know except to say we do know—if we are honest with ourselves—how much we genuinely love what we are doing or thinking, or even who we are, at a given moment. I have stopped even attempting to write these newsletters when I don’t feel like it. I’ve surrendered to a deeper rhythm and flow. Now, they come when I am in love with the material flowing through me. I hope you can feel that 🙂
So when you ask yourself what purpose you serve, especially in those difficult times when you feel disconnected, upset, or less than “holy,” stop and breathe. Appreciate that single breath, and know that you are again bringing love into this world. We may not see its invisible ripples until we are on the other side. Still, they exist, and they will ripple out forevermore into eternity, perhaps touching your future self or a great-great-great-great-grand niece. The love you call forth today may be the “note” that soothes a heart a thousand years from now. It is mind-boggling to think of your actual value. And it is fine not to think of it at all. It exists, whether we acknowledge it or not.
Here are a few ways to experience your deepest purpose by bringing forth love in this physical form.
1. Allow your mind to wander in joy
What thoughts please you? What memories or future dreams make your heart sing? As you bring forth these pleasing thoughts, imagine you can see the energy of love emanating from your heart, like a radiant light from a lighthouse beaming out in all directions. This simple act of drawing love from the invisible into the visible has far-reaching effects.
2. Appreciate anything
Pick the first object you see right here and now. Appreciate it. Take time. Observe it. Think about the hands and heart that created it or the forces of nature that brought it in front of you at this moment in time. As you do so, feel your heart open and expand. Imagine that invisible love emanating outward.
Breathe. See if you can imagine that light getting stronger. Amplify the love. Imagine it spilling out from your heart into your room, your home, your neighborhood, your city, your country, and eventually around the world. Science is beginning to show the effects of groups sitting and consciously emanating this type of love upon the environment. Thinking of our collective interaction, even in such a simple exercise, is breathtakingly beautiful.
3. Wish someone well
Think of the first person that comes to mind, whether you love them easily or can’t stand them. With all the sincerity you can muster, wish them well. Wish that the light within them, no matter how large or small, be amplified until they can honestly know and feel who they really are.
They may never know this gift you have given, but you have given it nonetheless.
We like to make physical and tangible contributions while we are here on earth. It feels good to receive the world’s acknowledgment of our light. It feels good to know you have contributed to another feeling loved, assisted, soothed, or treasured. Nonetheless, if no one ever knew your love or tangibly saw your love, that would not negate your love. And each moment spent loving—be it through well wishes of appreciation or simply kindness to self—is a moment well-spent.
I know when I look back at my life, I will not worry about how many souls I have helped but rather how honestly I have loved. So be easy on yourself. Be kind to you. Breathe. You have just lived on purpose.
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