We are here to grow and blossom! – Photo by Jan Ketchel
We start off the week with today’s Soulbyte, posted below, and this impassioned audio message asking us all to take responsibility for ourselves in a new way. Are we really here by our own choice? Hmm? Something to consider as we go into this week that culminates in the January 20th inauguration of our next president. Look for a blog by Chuck on Wednesday addressing some unique views on that event.
In each day’s renewal, go find yourself. You are an independent, separate being, a spark of energy that wants to be there. Just like the sun rising each morning, bringing new life, you too were born into life full of intentions. Take on the challenge of your own life and never doubt that you belong there, just as the sun belongs there. Find out who you are. Live your life to the fullest without regret, resentment, or self-pity, just as the sun rises and sets without excusing itself. What are you waiting for? Today’s the day! Go find your Self!
You are nature, nature is you, flowing like water, blowing like wind, your blood the blood of Mother Nature, your energy the energy of all of life. Remember this and abide in knowing that you are one with all that surrounds you, the pulse of the planet your pulse. And why should you remember this? Because you forget. You forget who you are. You forget that you are a creature of a greater energy yet one with it. You forget that you are magical, mystical, a force of nature. You forget yourself. Remember. Remember. Remember.
Take care of yourself. Align inner self and outer self each day, reminding your body, mind, spirit, and emotions that your wholeness depends upon you taking steps to assure that all parts of the self are sound and functioning. Do not overdo anything but keep all necessities to a moderate level inside and out. Smooth out the ruffles in your life by incrementally detaching from them and placing yourself in a positive position each day to reap the benefits of life, no matter your situation. Each day offers new light and new opportunity and this day is no exception. May the light and life of this day bring warmth to your heart, energy to your body, clarity to your mind, and calmness to your central nervous system. The rest is up to you!
By one account, Eros is the son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Eros is frequently represented as the young, devilish Cupid who pierces his target with the arrow of desire. When Eros strikes, his victim is overcome with attraction and longing for a specific person.
This longing is frequently portrayed in images of blissful sexual union and ecstasy, a supreme state of wholeness and fulfillment. However, real union far transcends sexual intercourse. In fact, for sexual intercourse itself to result in complete union a meeting of spiritual nakedness must also take place, and this requires relatedness. Eros is really relatedness.
Relatedness means connection at a feeling level. To meet another at that level we must be willing to reveal who we really are behind the mask of our attractive persona. As well, we must be able to meet, accept, and value who our partner really is.
If we impose our needs, expectations, and appetites upon our partner we are not related, we are entitled, and our partner generally feels burdened, pressured, and not met. Entitlement breeds alienation, the opposite of Eros, which seeks deep connection.
When we share our fears, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses with our partner, as well as the pain and humor of our human cluelessness, Eros is activated. When we tune in with attention and sensitivity to our partner’s revelations of their felt flaws and guarded secrets, Eros draws us closer, deepening our connection.
When we acknowledge our carnal lust and desire but temper it to meet where it is truly possible to meet at this time, Eros rewards our restraint and sensitivity with deepening soul contact. This is the pathway to relatedness and genuine love.
It’s always been possible to overpower and take what one wants. This kind of exchange will never result in love. Love requires respect. Without respect the soul retreats, Eros flies out the window, and love dies.
Important in these times—when the ruling leaders of the world are of the entitled, grabbing what you want ilk—that the true tenets of love be reinforced. Eros is not sex. Eros is relatedness. Relatedness is the pathway to love, and that love might indeed open to blissful sexual communion. But blissful sexual union can never happen without Eros, the god of true relationship.
