Love is Alive in the Parallel Universe

"Love is not a vacation from life. It's a parallel universe where everything ordinary becomes extraordinary." —Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Love is wisdom's natural radiance.~ Ajahn Sumedho.

We cannot feel unloved unless there is some core part of us that knows, or once knew, the very nature of Love itself. –Christine Paintner, Abbey for the Arts.

I live in a universe where Love matters most. I am not always good at it, and I know Love is at the heart of everything and that it’s wildly unconditional. Because I’ve been loved unconditionally, I have a reference point for what it’s like to feel unloved.

I never thought I would be grateful to feel unloved. But if that’s how I can better aim toward Love, alleluia.

What if some people don’t know how to or can’t feel Love or receive it?

A god-awful parallel universe is currently ramming into my universe like an asteroid. The people on it act clueless about Love. Or, their version of Love is scary, controlling, competitive, and doesn’t flinch at kicking others to the curb. Its leaders are white men bent on hogging greatness. Had they experienced unconditional Love, they would show some compassionate restraint. Instead, they mark our bodies as the battleground. We can’t let that happen.

Gayle Brandeis's award-winning poem, “A Body Politic of Peace” reminds us,

Listen.

The body is not
a battleground,
as some people
would like you
to believe.
The body knows
peace; peace, after
all, is the body’s
natural state.
Think of the body
in repose, the way
muscles loosen,
breath opens up;
think of the body
in Love. It knows
what to do. It is
our mind that does
not. It is our mind
that makes us feel
separate, isolated,
it is our mind
that dreams up war.
The body says no,
come back to me,
I am fragile and strong
and I connect you
to your brothers and sisters.
I connect you to the earth.
Come back to the heartbeat,
the pulse, the rhythm
we all walk to, regardless
of nation or color. Come back
to the breath—inhale, take the world
deep into your lungs; exhale,
give yourself back fully.
This is what the body says:
release the peace
that lives within your skin.

The good news is my love universe is real, and I intend to fully inhabit it. I am keeping an eye on the loveless stormtroopers of the asteroid trying to take our bodyspirits hostage, and I’m using some love tricks.

As a grateful member of Alanon, a big trick I’ve learned is the art of detachment. For those impacted by addiction, powerlessness is one of life’s staples. To love a person with a disease over the long haul requires serenity. The key is detachment. To detach is like growing a muscle. I often have to notice and strengthen it with words, slogans, and daily reminders.

Luckily, detachment isn’t complicated or abnormal. It’s akin to compartmentalizing. For instance, you compartmentalize during a meeting when you differentiate personal thoughts and needs from the group’s. You keep coming back to yourself.

A big part of detachment is the peace and joy of serenity. If you don’t have that to start with, what are you aiming for? So I also have to feed Love. I seek out the healthiest stuff and find many, many people doing beautiful work on behalf of collective well-being. Thank you. You are probably one of them.

I found these giant love beams this week. Perhaps, when you are driving, walking, or listening to podcasts, these pieces will nourish you as they did me.

The Change the Story Change the World Podcast: A Chronicle of Art & Community Transformation.

115 episodes showcase poets, dancers, and painters uprooting with white supremacy, COVID, criminal militias, and Milosevic. Muralists, musicians, and actors making a difference in homeless shelters, emergency rooms, and death row. When creativity confronts destruction and imagination faces fear in places like Ferguson, Belfast, and San Quentin, surprising things happen. Listen to Lily Yey's interview, for instance. So so inspiring.

The Memory Palace: Memory as Power and a Door

Nate DiMeo on City Arts & Lectures. Nate is creator and host of The Memory Palace, a podcast about people from America's past whose names might not be familiar, but whose lives changed the course of history. Episodes take the form of short, evocative essays, rich with detail and emotion. DiMeo’s stories don’t just describe historical events - they encourage listeners to imagine how people actually felt and experienced them at the time. Listen on Apple Podcasts:

Social Choreography- The Soul Democratic?

Check out the amazing Michael Kliën and the Body Politic on Scene on Radio
Michael provokes experiences of profound change in the world, but not through the usual means. A Dance professor at Duke University, Kliën sets up experiments involving people moving amongst each other -- wordlessly -- in pursuit of new ways of being and the "soul democratic." This is a production of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.

Also! Ensoulment: The Movie!

An award-winning 56-minute film by Lorís Simón. Ensoulment: A Diverse Analysis of the Feminine in Western Culture. Numerous voices weigh in on the wisdom of the body and what is needed going forward. FABULOUS!

Lastly, it is imperative to feed soul with art. Beauty isn’t optional. And art isn’t either.

My lifestyle is my activism. I live in an Eco-village of people where we are learning to live more lightly. Making art and helping others do so builds the Love Universe. Meanwhile, I center body and soul in my discernment and take my whiteness upon myself as a condition of my liberation, listening and receiving guidance from BIPOC and queer community. I contribute and show up for refugees, the Nisenan people in my area, and Native American projects. I contribute to the Red Cross and support dance and community arts projects that document social change.

Love takes muscles. It takes art. And it's an unruly thing. It needs ridiculousness as much as it requires perseverance. In Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins said, “Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My Love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.”

I love it.