i consider valentine’s day the end of the holiday season. cleverly timed: love is winter’s salve. it comes in many forms — the common denominator, a lack of self-interest.

love is our true nature. beyond a feeling.

in the words of bell hooks,

“the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”

true love and compassion stem from understanding who we really are: a soul in an eternal relationship with the Divine.

because every living being shares this precious relationship, the greatest act of love becomes helping ourselves and others nourish it.

love that desires nothing in return may feel unfamiliar or challenging to those of us who have experienced love as transactional or conditional. i’m certainly a work-in-progress.

luckily, love is a practice, and i have the chance to begin again and again and again.

some things i have loved this month:

• celebrating black history

• making babies giggle

• watching my love do what he loves

• swans defying gravity on a frozen pond’s surface

• waking before sunrise

sending all my love to each of you! let me know what you have loved this month :)

yours,

christina

journaling prompt: create a list of 28 things you loved this month — an ode to february

film recommendation: Malcolm X (1992) on HBO

upcoming events: if you’re interested in spirituality, check out programming at bhakti school nyc and bhakti center (nyc) or spiritual connect dallas (dallas)