So often in our culture we assume that love is a feeling. That we either feel it or we don't. That it either exists ? it is present ? or it isn't. Barbara King's words direct our awareness to the recognition that love is an energy field ? and as such, it can be cultivated.

Love is an energy field in which we exist. It is a state of being which we exist within. When we step into it, it surrounds us, it envelops us, it shapes us, it fills us. It nurtures us.

When we assume that love is a feeling, we diminish it. Feelings come and go.

States of being ? energy fields ? ebb and waft like clouds. And yet their substance is always present. It is energy available for creation.

When we assume that love is a feeling, we relegate it to the realm of all feelings ? shame, guilt, apathy, despair, longing, excitement, contentment, fear, sorrow, sadness, anger, happiness, desire.

Love is more than this.

When we imagine that feelings rise and fall ? within us ? and that energy states arise and evolve around us ? we begin to recognize that love is something distinctly unique from feelings. When we learn how to contribute to the well-being of the state of love, we are sustained by it. We are fed by it. We are cared for by it. We are loved by it.

Discover for yourself and emulate the Principles and Practices of love ? how to step into it, how to stay in it, how to flow with it.

When we misidentify love as a feeling, we have no responsibility to it. There is no commitment required to maintain it. It ? like most of the human created world we live in ? can easily be mistreated by us. We can take it for granted, become angry when it ?leaves? us, and vow to never succumb to it again.

This attitude completely shifts when we realize what love is. It is a state of being, a vibration, that we must learn to attune ourselves to.

This requires recognition of what love actually is, and discipline to attune ourselves to it.

When we are not attuned to love, we fall out of love.

When we are attuned to love, it never leaves us. Because we never leave it.

What are some of the Principles which support us to step into love ? and stay in it? Here are a few ?

Truthfulness. Honesty ? with oneself first. Honesty ripples from this place outward. Gentleness. Respect. Willingness. Trust. Trustworthiness. Sensitivity. Maturity. Grace. Inner power. Porous boundaries. Being present. Honor ? the ability to honor that which is divine. Rapture - the ability to open oneself to all that which is truly beautiful. Awareness, and awakeness ? being conscious of what is, in this present moment, now. The willingness, and the inner power, to take appropriate action, thus not being fossilized in ? or attached to ? the past. Surrender. The willingness to be love ? to actually become it. This is a process. A process which requires, at some turning point, a decision, a commitment. A decision to align oneself - with love. Discover how to spiral yourself upward ? consistently, into love ? rather than downward, out of your inner power, into the depression and apathy of the lower levels of consciousness ? the lower realms of emotion.

These are just some of the Principles which support us each, as individuals, and together, as a community ? a culture ? to experience ? and to be ? in love.

In our culture we often assume that one is either in love, or not in love. That we either feel love, or we don't.

Let's redefine what being ?in love? means. Rather than simply feeling a feeling, love to us means living in an ongoing state of love. Yes, other emotions do arise from time to time. And yet, with Practice, these are allowed to wash through. They never linger. They never last. They are allowed ? and encouraged and supported ? to arise and to fall. We witness them, with our Observer Mind. And in so doing, we remain unattached. We Practice how to not feed them as a drama. And, as if miraculously, we discover that emotions ? feelings ? rise, fall, and disappear.

Love is not the same.

When we Practice the Principles which love invites us to re-discover, love remains. It is a constant in which these other emotions rise, fall, and pass away. Love becomes the container in which all of life exists.

Human communities, too, can be love. They can be containers of love in which other experiences ? including interpersonal experiences ? rise, fall, and pass away.

This concept could be a quantum shift for you in your life.

You can choose to ? or default unconsciously to ? living on the whims of love ?the emotion?.

Or you can commit to learn how to step into love the energy field.

Find allies to support you on this journey. Together, discover how ...

Carpe diem. Seize the day. Seize this opportunity ? to open and to awaken ? to a new opportunity of how to live your life.

Copyright (c) 2008 HeartSong Solutions