Love heals. Heals and liberates. I use the word love, not meaning sentimentality, but a condition so strong that it may be that which holds the stars in their heavenly positions and that which causes the blood to flow orderly in our veins.” ~Maya Angelou

When things are going well in our lives, it can feel fairly easy to show up with love. But when faced with struggle, loss, or grief – or even just the small frustrations of daily life and relationships – we may find it harder to operate from a place of love. The gift, of course, is that it’s on the hard days that love’s capacity to sustain – and even transform – is most poignant.

During the pandemic, we’ve witnessed repeated counts of people expressing love – playing music from balconies, placing supportive signs in their windows – as a way to carry one another through collective hardship. In our individual lives, acting from love on the hard days and in the hard moments can offer equally powerful sustenance and healing, not only for others but for ourselves as well.

Today’s practice is an invitation to identify one specific difficulty in your life that could be eased or softened by intentionally approaching it with love. While this doesn’t mean that frustration or disappointment, anger or sorrow simply go away, how might you allow love – your own and others’ – to come alongside what’s hard, to offer a kind of accompaniment?

  • Through reflection or journaling, begin by identifying the struggle or hardship on which you’d like to center your practice today.
  • From there, consider some ways that you might hold or approach this situation, relationship, or feeling with greater love. Is there a loss you’re grieving that could be tended by your love? Is there an entrenched stance – your own or someone else’s – that might be softened by your love? And if it’s just simply a hard day with no easily-named cause, how might you let yourself lean on who and what you love to bring some comfort?
  • As you make your way through the day, take note of what shifts, what comes easily or with difficulty, and what’s surprising. Where do possibilities arise by intentionally turning to love on the hard days?

Share Your Reflection: As always, we invite and appreciate your reflections about how you experienced today’s practice. Please share below.

Deepening Resources:

Image: Each day of our Grateful for Love practice includes an image of love as expressed through street art. Today’s Photo: Frank Albrecht/Unsplash

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Enjoy the full seven-day Grateful for Love practice.


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