“What Would You Have Me Know Today?”
Year 2024 was challenging on a personal and professional level. Generally speaking, it was also a challenging year to be a citizen of the world, in its current state of affairs. To be fair, it was a year of fulfilling accomplishments, as well; but those came with their own challenges and created new ones. By mid-December, as the holidays approached, I caught myself feeling tired, discouraged and even a bit depressed.
As it always happens when I find myself in need of a pick-me-up, the Universe answered. On December 18 I happened to come across a Marie Forleo interview with Eat, Pray, Love’s author Elizabeth Gilbert (Wake Up & Start Living: To Anyone Feeling Lost & Unhappy In Life, Watch This To Find Meaning Before 2024 Ends | Liz Gilbert; interview by Marie Forleo; link under References). During this fascinating interview, Gilbert shared the fact that she started a blog named Letters From Love (link also under References), based on a simple exercise she’s been practicing almost every day for 20 years: Receiving messages from Love through free-writing journaling prompts such as “Dear Love, what would you have me know today?” or “Dear Love, what is your will for me today?” According to Gilbert, the messages that follow her questions feel like downloads that pour through her from a higher, loving source. They are always messages of unconditional love and support, encouragement, assistance, cheer, comfort, consolation, confidence, faith, inspiration, reassurance...
I joined the Letters From Love blog while still listening to Gilbert’s interview and decided to try this exercise that very night, at bedtime. It was a quite an uplifting experience! I’ve been doing it almost every night ever since. Apparently, the over 100,000 people who have joined Gilbert’s blog to date are practicing this exercise and also receiving loving messages. This isn’t just a practice anymore; it’s a movement.
What I found especially interesting about this exercise was the fact that Gilbert chose to address her missives to Love, rather than a specific religious or spiritual being. That choice feels right to me, considering how hard it can be to separate well-known wisdom tradition figures from the less than positive connotations invariably caused by misconceptions, misuse and overuse. On that note, I’ve been playing with different qualifiers for the word “Love,” such as Unconditional (as this blog title), True, Truest and Universal, to name a few; but I seem to arrive at the same results as when I just write “Dear Love.” In short, the key word is Love; Love is all that matters; it’s all about Love; all we need is Love...
Some of the messages I’ve received during this exercise:
“Relax into your life; accept that certain things take time to blossom, to be ready for the next step or the next phase. There’s no hurry. Enjoy. Just purely enjoy, without guilt, without shame.”
“Think love, speak love, feel love, act in love. Your life will transform entirely with this simple practice.”
“Never fear; you are healing; you are loved and protected, and you’re never alone!”
“Try to not spend time and energy with catastrophic doomsday scenarios and imaginings. Whenever that starts to happen, replace those thoughts with the word “Love,” and we will be there with you, bringing you back to the Light, helping you reconnect with your own Light.”
[I have actually been following this particular advice with amazing results! Several times, when I was getting lost in negative thinking, I stopped myself and brought the word “Love” to mind. My mind was instantly flooded with beautiful, loving, humorous, happy images and memories, such as nature snapshots (blooming flowers or breath-taking sunsets), joyful moments with loved ones, uplifting or funny movie scenes, etc. I also tried this exercise right after having a fight with my husband and was overtaken with memories of some of the countless loving and joyful moments we’ve had together...]
I’m sure everyone has experienced hearing a loving voice in their head, sharing wisdom; a voice that didn’t feel like their own. Do these messages come from higher, loving sources or are we just tapping into our own subconscious mind for much needed self-validation? Or is it perhaps both; sort of a co-creating dance with the Universal Love Source? To me, the real question is: Does it really matter, as long as the end results are so positive and uplifting? But don’t take my word for it; give it a try and see for yourself.
Wishing you beautiful and inspiring letters from Love in 2025!
Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 01/03/25
Photo by Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash
References:
Wake Up & Start Living: To Anyone Feeling Lost & Unhappy In Life, Watch This To Find Meaning Before 2024 Ends | Liz Gilbert; interview by Marie Forleo
Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert
Comments