Love doesn't happen to us. It's a choice to go deeper

Love.

One word to describe a million things.

I use it to describe my favourite way of making eggs.

And my favourite person.

The way that light strikes the trees in golden hour.

And the way that the breeze caresses my skin.

It’s everywhere, right?

But how do we experience it?

Is it passive?

A feeling that’s simply evoked in you.

Or is it active?

A co-creative process that you’re part of.

I think there’s a remembering that takes place.

I can breathe in with you right now. And it can be just a breath.

One of many I’ll take throughout my life.

Or, I can breathe in and notice these wonderful sensations.

Coolness in my nostrils.

The way my belly rises and falls.

The refreshing fulfilment of a long inhale and the satisfying release of letting it go.

I can bring my awareness to loving the breath.

Really noticing it.

In the same way, I can look outside my window and I can see trees.

The green, the colours of flowers.

I can like it. I can appreciate it.

But what if I really bring my awareness to this moment?

What if I really observe?

The shapes. The kaleidoscopic lines.

I can feel a leaf in my fingers, feel it in my body.

The shade, the coolness, the vibrancy.

It’s almost as if love is depth of awareness.

Going deeper into what’s there.

Of course, with mobile phones, computers, laptops, screens, there is no depth. It’s all surface level.

The visuals can tickle our senses, stir up a feeling, stimulate the mind.

But it doesn’t quite have the full-bodied sensation of being alive.

Similarly, I can go through my day and I can experience many things.

I can speak to my flatmate. I can walk into town, I can watch the cars go by, interact with people, enjoy a meal.

But I can easily glide through those experiences.

After all, it’s very everyday.

What if, instead, I find depth in each of those moments?

What if I really felt into the conversation with my flatmate. Noticing how they were showing up, their smile, how I was feeling in that moment with them.

What if, on the way into town, I noticed the clouds. How unique they are. The fresh scent of mowed grass. The birds chirping in joy.

Simple things.

The very same experience. But deeper.

For me, that’s love.

That’s the love we share with one another when we really see each other.

It’s the love we’re fortunate to experience in relationship.

Noticing little things about someone. Things that maybe no one else has seen.

Loving the way you feel around that person.

Loving the opportunity to give to that person, to be there for them, to help them feel seen and supported.

Depth.

And this depth is available to all of us in every moment.

We just need to drop from the surface of the thinking mind to the infinite of the felt sense.

We can start with perhaps the deepest action of all: inhaling the breath, the carrier of awareness.

Feeling it, deep, deep, deep in the body.

It happens all the time but we can love it.

And as we exhale, we can release and let that love flow out into life.

This reciprocal relationship with being.

Nothing more, nothing less.

A million different ways to be in love.