Letters From Love - Volume 2 : Love's Advice on Fear of Change, Lovability, and Mortality
First off, I would like to give all credit to this exercise to Elizabeth Gilbert and her Letters From Love project on Substack. I have been a dedicated follower of her weekly letters from love for some time now and each Sunday morning I look forward to hearing from so many amazing, vulnerable human beings and their letters from love. I highly recommend you check it out.
Since discovering Letters From Love I have started the practice of writing my own. This practice has made a profound impact on my life in two ways (at least):
It gives me a space to practice self-compassion and self-acceptance and strengthens my muscle of talking kindly and lovingly to myself.
It allows me to tune into my deeper knowing, my authentic self, my wise self. The one that doesn’t get caught up in the dramas of the world.
Elizabeth Gilbert talks about how this has been a daily practice for her for over 20 years and I fully believe that you can notice it in her presence. You can sense love and kindness when she speaks. She embodies love. My practice has not been as consistent, but I do call on Love at least one or two times a week when I want to or need to tap into my inner guidance or hear a kind word.
I encourage you to check out Letter’s From Love on Substack, and I invite you to keep reading below as I share three letters that I have received from Love on the topics of fear of change, lovability, and mortality.
Dear Love, what would you have me know about fear of change?
My dearest Brooke, you are not alone in your fear of the unknown. For some reason you humans like to plant your feet firmly and remain unmoved forevermore. That is how you are comfortable, but that is not how you find happiness.
Even a tree that is deeply rooted in the ground is still growing upward and outward. It is changing every day. In fact, each new day is entirely different. That is the way of things. So why, then, my dear child, would we expect anything different from you?
Change is life. Change is living.
Being open to change at any moment is how you live with the source of life. We are not static. We are dynamic energy flowing through you and around you. Flow with us, my darling. Do not be afraid of change.
It is actually not changing that should create this fear. What if I told you that you will never change again? That you are stuck in this physical, emotional, spiritual space as it is now for the rest of your life? How then do you feel? Boring is the word that arises for us. We do not operate on boring and unchanging. Life is about constantly evolving. Keeping yourself open to the flow of life, to the changes that will keep guiding you upward and outward.
Don't be afraid of change, my darling. Change is how you grow into your truest Self. Change is how you learn to love better and live better. Change is life. Embrace life, my love! We will never steer you wrong.
Love,
❤️
Dear Love, what would you have me know today about my own lovability?
Dear precious one, you are loved. You have always been loved. We have never left you. I know there have been some points in your life when you didn’t feel us, when your internal world felt as cold and damp as a cellar floor, when you ached and grabbed at your chest because the sorrow in your heart was too great. Loneliness has been your constant companion. But dearest child, know that we were there.
We were sitting with you, weeping with you, stroking your hair, rubbing your back, whispering the encouragement to get up and keep going, keep trying. We have never left you, we have always loved you. There is nothing that you could do or be that would make us leave you. You are a precious stone. A sparkling diamond. God placed you here with their own hand as a gift to this place and time on Earth.
I know you are still questioning your place among us. Your heart is timid, like a little chihuahua shaking at the door. I know you’re afraid to reclaim your full inner light. People have told you that you don't belong, but they were wrong. You belong everywhere. Everywhere that your heart and spirit want to take you is where you belong.
Baby girl, keep dipping your toes into this expansive, radiant pool of love and spirit and know that you are a gift that many have been waiting for, most of all yourself. You are love. You are loveable. There is nothing you need to do or be to prove how loveable you are.
Rest easy, child. Revel in the stillness and wisdom of your spirit. Talk with us. Our conversations are beautiful, and so are you. We love you.
Love,
❤️
Dear Love, what would you have me know today about mortality ?
Dearest Brooke, baby girl, I think you are getting a crash course in the fragility of the body as we speak.
The body is a wonderful thing , but it is a fragile thing and will not last forever. Muscles stretch, bones break, organs fail. That's the way it goes. This space you occupy is a temporary one, my dear.
That is why gratitude is so important.
Gratitude for your body and your health, yes, but also gratitude, wonder and awe for every single day. The sunrise, the sunset. The moon, the stars. The bird call, the tree sway. The wind on your cheeks, the heat on your skin.
None of this is permanent. It’s all fleeting. Nothing is guaranteed.
As Andrea Gibson said, it takes courage to dream about all of the things that may never happen and still try to make them happen. Death is the only guarantee, so make sure you live in the most alive way until then. I love you.
Love,
❤️
Did you enjoy this post? Check out Letters From Love - Volume 1 for more of my own letters.
Featured Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash
