You ever experience something so serendipitous that, had it not happened, you don’t know if you’d be here today? That kind, specific message from a stranger that kept you going on your worst day? That random, yet, quite specific amount of money you just happened upon for your needs? Someone pulling you from the edge of crossing from this plane to next just before it would have been too late? An outstanding balance suddenly becoming zero? Or an object you needed or thought about acquiring magically becoming available to you?
These saving graces happen all the time and are ways the Divine tells you that you belong here. Your struggles do not go unnoticed. You are not alone. You are not uncared for. And you are not unloved, despite the mistreatments and hatred people in your life have bestowed upon you.
You are loved so much, despite what hateful, evil people have fought to make you believe. They’re goners for what they did to you. But you, you are seen. You are valued. You are heard. And your particular set of gifts, talents, experiences, wisdom and insights will leave a positive impact on this world that only you can make. And that love that saved you, that kindness from the Divine that kept you here, will shine out for the whole world to see, and lead many others to believe in the value of their existences; the beauty of their stories; the necessity of them being here; and the power of love and the many different ways it shows up in our lives.
Note the examples above aren’t about romantic love between two people, but about its other manifestations, for love exists all around you. It always has. It gets passed on, cycled and recycled, purposed and repurposed, while always remaining pure in its essence. Love can never be destroyed, and it is never absent in your life, but because we’ve been trained to only believe and trust what we can see directly in our faces, the purpose of this article is to challenge you to look beyond the superficial, to see things from a different perspective; because, while we may think it so, no one, and nothing in our world is one-dimensional. So why should our perspectives on love, which is so universal, expansive and multi-faceted, remain one-dimensional?
This world pushes for hate to be in constant creation, and for people to believe in it and participate in it, by way normalizing it, else it will die, because it can and does; but love, love is everlasting. It can never, and will never die, meaning the only way hate can prevail is to make us strangers to love, its power in saving us and the many, many ways it exists.
LOVE AS DIVINE GUIDANCE
“Stars be our Ancestors,
Lighting up even the darkest nights to
show us the way.”
- Sierra Etes, ancestral stars
Do you really believe those serendipitous, fortuitous moments mentioned above happen by chance? Randomly? Just because? No! They are divinely mandated for you to have, those of moments of help and assistance in exactly the way you need it, when you need it. And this is the way our Spiritual Team — God, our ancestors and our guardian angels— love us. They look out for us. They protect us from harm, guide us when we don’t know where else to turn, and give us blessings like those aforementioned to make the challenges destined for us to go through and grow through more bearable.
Yes, it’s true, no one can escape having to go through turmoil or hardship sometime or other in their lives; and our guardian angels can’t stop circumstances that will cause us grief, heartache or depression from happening, but they can assist us through it. And they can help even more when you ask specifically for them to help you with what‘s ailing or worrying you.
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
— Jesus, John 14:13-14
God is love. God cares for you. Sees you. Hears your prayers, and provides you with everything you need, and then some, all in divine right time — all out of love for His creations. This is why love is omnipresent, all-powerful, will never and can never die, and gives us the strength, hope and will to live on in the most unbearable circumstances, in the face of turmoil and trauma. It is why it casts out evil, causes hatred to die. And heals the deepest, oldest and ugliest of wounds.
It is why it gives us life, not only because it literally helps keep us alive via the blessings mentioned above, but also because love in our lives inherently drives out the negativity, hate and evil that people and the world tries to cast onto us to try to put our lights out. With our Spiritual Teams’ love, our lights continue to burn ever-bright, and even stronger. Turn to them when you are feeling weak, unloved, ailing, worried; mentally, physically or emotionally struggling; or in need of casting out evil and negativity people or circumstances are trying to place on you.
LOVE AS COMMUNITY
“To the black girls whose laughter was
silenced by the hatred, the abuse…
by the erasure of our efforts,
by the erasure of our very existences:
We sing you loudly,
We praise you;
This is the black girl chorus.”
- Sierra Etes, black girl chorus 1.5
You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to experience what you have. This truth is bittersweet, yes. However, the power lies within its sweetness: you have communities that span generations that you can rely on to help you carry your burdens. Communities that honor you, understand you, and will cheer you on to live anyway, because that is the only way to defeat the traumas that tried to swallow you whole. This support and compassion they have for you, because they understand your woes, is love.
Look back at the stories of those who have come before; the abuse, trauma, heartache and devastations they experienced. Find solace in their survival, inspiration in their thriving. Enjoy the art they put into the world as defiance against what tried to weigh them down, and carry the power of their stories with you as you continue to live, as a reminder that no challenge can, nor will, keep you from going on and being great. They gave you their love to live on forever in the art they put into the world, as testament of perseverance amidst hardship being possible. Cherish it. Revel in it. Become empowered by it. Recognize the love of the Chorus within it.
LOVE AS YOU
“I want you to experience the joy they tried
to blind you of;
I want you to experience this world always
knowing that your existence is not a
burden
But a blessing.
I want to love you like how I’ve learned to
love myself now.”
- Sierra Etes, I Want To
Who here can say they’ve never wanted to be loved? That love isn’t the one thing we’ve always yearned to have? To feel? To receive from our family, friends and the world? Completely, wholly, through and through?
Better yet, who here has ever witnessed something terrible happen and knew that, had love been at the center, it could have totally been avoided? You know what love is, its necessity in keeping things peaceful, prosperous, joyous and fulfilling, we all do, because we are love. You are love. We come into the world loving, and needing it for our survival. Did you know babies have to be hugged and cuddled for them to have the necessary physiological development for survival, especially babies born premature ? Your expectations to receive love in your life is not naïveté, an act of foolishness, or characteristic of an immature mindset.
It is, in fact, instinct. It’s your nature. It is you yearning to have your existence, your presence, be validated and supported. It is you knowing that love is not only for newborns, but a necessity for all people at every stage in their lives to continue to live on through the traumas they have experienced, or are currently experiencing. Just as babies need love, comfort and human support as they adjust into the world, you, me and everyone else needs to both give and receive love because we’re constantly adjusting to new phases and cycles that life brings. Life is in constant flux, ever-changing, ever bringing in new circumstances, ways of being, perspectives, shifts and transformations we have to adjust to, and to survive them we need the proper support, encouragement and peace that only love can provide.
So you’re yearning for love is not misguided, it is who you are at your core guiding you to leave people, spaces, behaviors and mindsets behind that keep you from having what you need to survive. It is you being guided to people and spaces that you see yourself in, that affirm the knowing you had all along that we are here to love and be loved. Follow that. Follow love, listen to what your body, mind and soul is urging you to do, and experience the freedom, fulfillment, peace, prosperity and comfort you’ve always been searching for.
LOVE AS IT IS
Love is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Love knows what you need before you even ask. Love never binds you, hurts you or confines you, but gives you the foundation, power, encouragement and peace to blossom into your fullest self. We need it to survive, and in moments when you feel love is lost, absent from where you are, or something you can never have, or simply something you don’t have enough of to give to yourself or others, remember the ever-present, limitless and inexhaustible supply of love mentioned here for you to rely on.
When you feel like you don’t have enough love within you, rely on your Spiritual Team; rely on poetry, song, dance, movie or wherever else you find the Chorus. Rely on the knowing that your intuition is guiding you from spaces that are not conducive to your survival; so whatever made you feel so low that you felt like you didn’t have anymore love within you, or in your life, is your guidance system revealing to you what is good for you and what isn’t. When something feels good, do more of it, and when something doesn’t feel good, do less of it.
You don’t have to figure out this love stuff on your own, nor should you ever feel like romantic love is the only kind of love you can have, nor that it is the only way love exists. Love, loves to love, allow it to show up in more ways in your life than one. Don’t forget to share the love you wish to receive with others; and relax and find peace in the knowing that no matter what people have done to you or what you have done, you are loved.
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