The Love Movement (by Ross McKeachie)

"To love something: what does this mean; what does it feel like?

To love is to see something, as it really is, and to allow it total space to be just so.

Love feels like an open embrace, a warm and soft celebration that judges not and holds onto naught."

- Ross McKeachie

Opening Up and Sharing Love

Don’t be afraid to open up and show your Love. Enthusiasm for life, affection for people and all living things, gratitude for even the smallest gifts – these are all expressions of Love. Don’t hold yourself back from saying Loving things. Compliments are one of the simplest gifts you can give....so give them without remorse! Look for something to connect on with another and tell them how much you feel this connection. This simple practice is incredibly powerful for fostering Love in yourself and in your relationships.

The act of opening up and sharing love starts with some internal practice:

• Imagine what you Love about another or connect on with another. Or, simply imagine what love feels like. HINT: it usually starts in your heart centre. This imagining will build and lead to a feeling of Love inside yourself.
• With enough practice (and this will take a lot of time for some people and not much for others so be patient and be kind to yourself), you will start to feel that there is an overflowing of this Loving energy. It will then feel natural to express by sharing it outwardly. However, you don't have to wait for this to happen. You can also accelerate the process by breaking through your barriers to the outward expression of Love. Do this through acts of kindness and using loving, gentle words. Surprise people around you with the nice things you say to them. And have fun with it! Laugh and joke with people in a loving way! This is an amazing game to play.
• The other receives this energy from you, if they’re open to it, and will be grateful for the sharing of Love. If they’re not receptive to it, that's OK, you at least feel the deeper connection and it can energize and inspire you. Don't do this with the expectation that everyone is going to like it. You are leading by example and showing that person that it’s safe and OK to be open around you. The only reason we close ourselves off is that we are afraid we’ll be hurt in some way if we open ourselves and allow our vulnerability to show.
• If you are fortunate enough to have a family member, friend or other loved one who is open to it, practice the love game with them. Sit or stand facing one another. Look into each other's eyes and just breath and relax. Whoever feels the natural impulse first can just say one loving or kind thing to the other.  The other person should take a good moment to fully receive this compliment and then, when they feel it, they give some love back to the other. There are no rules as to how you should frame it, so get creative with your words and gestures - get into it with your whole self. Go back and forth like this for as long as feels comfortable and enjoyable. Soak it up like you're tanning in the sun. Charge each other up as the energy of Love builds in you and between you. And, please, don't take it too seriously......Have fun loving each other and then take it out to the streets!

Every act of love, every word of kindness breaks down the dense walls we have built up around ourselves. Everything we do has a ripple effect outward. Send loving ripples into yourself and the world and watch closely as they play off other energies. This life is one big exchange of energies in different forms. The subtle, feeling energies form into physical manifestation and interact with one another. We experience them and then they dissolve into nothingness again. Life is this cycle happening over and over, endlessly and in infinitely varied forms. So let’s foster forms of Love into this world. Then, we can experience Love in its’ infinitely diverse forms and feel safe and open and content and whole. Doesn't that sound great? It is possible and our planet is waking up and moving in that direction. Join the flow and start experiencing Love now so we can all benefit.Ross McKeachie is a writer, poet, performer and comedian who is committed to putting love into action. Visit his website for inspiration (quotes, poems, stories, exercises, video and more). Ross has a diverse background including marketing, entrepreneurship, consulting, manual labour and humanitarian services and is available to collaborate on projects.

Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”Of course you do not do this out loud; otherwise,someone would call the cops.Still, though, think about this, this great pull in usto connect.Why not become the one who lives with a full moonin each eye that is always saying,with that sweet moon language,what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

~ Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky