For you

Heart Nebula IC1805

"I love you

with every fiber of my being.

I have always loved you 

long before I knew you existed

most likely, long before I was even born.

You don’t complete me.

You show me how complete I already am.

You bring out the best in me, yes

but that best is so much better than I ever imagined.

Love without condition

love without pretext

love without possession

without definition -- 

the kind of love that can prevent wars

end world hunger

and keep the stars in alignment --

a kind of love they haven’t written about 

because no words have yet been cobbled to adequately describe it.

Before you I was aiming too low

dreaming too small....

What can I say...

to me

you are

it!

And I am proud, honored, humbled and awed to love you

and always will be.”

~C.H. Hastings

Once is enough.....

...because it's forever.

A sweetiepie of a friend recently asked me to share with him something that I've never told anyone.... I couldn't think of a thing... because
(1) I am not the secretive type, and
(2) over the course of the last year I have shared every deep, dark, weirdo secret I possess with the kindred spirit who knows me best... oh, but the goods he has on me!

I was very complimented that the first friend mentioned was interested enough to ask such a question, so I sincerely wanted to answer.  At last, while letting my mind wander in the shower (where I do most of my best thinking) the answer dawned on me.  There is only one thing that I have never told anyone.... because I had not realized it myself.  I have only been in love once.... meaning only once have I experienced the kind of love that is so unselfish and unconditional that in my estimation it deserves to be labeled with the greatest word in the universe.... love

At this realization I was tempted to think, "Yikes.. that sounds so pathetic... only being in love once in your whole life"... especially cuz I am not 'with' the person.  Then it dawned on me.... of course I've only been in love once... that's all any of us can ever be!  We're ALL in love... once... even if the face of that love appears to change with time and circumstance.

I've long crooned Bob Marley's refrain 'One Love' with the idea that there is indeed just one Love... just as there is only one Truth, one Beauty, one anything... and that these concepts... especially Love... are so immense and important that they are expressed and manifeested infinitely, and eternally.  And so it stands to reason, that this love I feel is also so big, so momentous, that it can't be contained within personal parameters... ie it can't be limited to just one person; else without that person I would be without love!

And so I am proud to say that I have only been in love once -- because I know that regardless of the package it comes in or face(s) it wears, it is a love that will last forever... and that it is all mine.

The Unconditional Paradox

[today's letter to a friend]

I love you

The harmless 'Sting' of love

Those were the first words that came to mind when i started to think what to write to you this morning.

I want to briefly describe unconditional love as I see it today.

it's a paradoxical double-edged sword in so much as it can cut through all the nonsense coming and going, from every angle;

but it can never injure, butcher or mutilate.

It can only cleanse and heal.

To me, when I say I love you unconditionally, it means that my love for you is not predicated on your actions or choices... I love you because you exist!

That sounds nice and all, but at the same time may not make you feel all that special, because using that line of 'unconditional' reasoning, you could be a cold-hearted, lazy, mean-spirited slug and I would still love you... well, I guess so!

But here is the glistening beauty of our non-sword's other edge,

the proverbially delicious icing on the cake, cherry topping the works:

in addition to the lack of conditions, I also love and admire several things about you, separate from my unwavering loyalty toward you.

So then yes, I do in fact love you merely because you exist

and you exist and were created to be an enormous blessing to this world.

I also love the many ways in which you share your blessedness... the particular aspects of your character i find loveliest. 

Those traits are not the reason I love you.

They are just things I love about you, your warmth, passion, compassion, sweetness, generosity of spirit, etc.

It is the unconditional aspect that enables me to love you no matter what traits you are displaying at any given moment.

You logically understand the breadth of my love for you.

You frankly can't fathom the depth of my love for you.

And you teeter on incredulity when it comes to the whole thing

just cuz it's so darn foreign to you.

So for today, just treat it like any law of physics.

You may not be able to see gravity or really know the ins and outs of how it works, but you know for a fact that it is a law of nature, that never falters, and that you can count on without exception.

Please let this sink in today, and let me know what unconditional love is revealing to you.  No answer is trivial... and neither are you!

I LOVE YOU

Please feel free to share with someone YOU love, who could use an unconditional reminder