Part of living a great life, for me, is being free to love deeply.
Most of the time, I feel limitless in my capacity to love.
But, there are times when I can feel a hardness creep into my heart. A stiffening, a resisting, a denying, a shrinking.
I know why it comes – to keep me safe.
But, it is not a protection.
It’s a prison.
There are plenty of reasons to hold onto the love you have, to tuck the imperfect bits of yourself away, to only tell them what they want to hear, to play it cool, to hide in the hardness of a hurt heart, to live behind the walls fear will forge.
But, I want my whole life – my gaze, my voice, my sentences, my body, my work – to be an expression of love.
Which is why my word for the year is Intimacy.
Intimacy is risky because it lives in vulnerability.
Intimacy asks us to share the wholeness of us, with them.
Even though you might feel pain.
Even though you might be met with rejection, resentment, or judgment.
Even though you might disappoint them.
Intimacy is a risk I’m willing to take because it is the surest path to the connection I crave. It is the essence of the most precious moments we can experience as humans.
Intimacy is formed in the moments when the masks are dropped and we truly see each other. It’s the bond of lasting friendship. It’s the energy that’s exchanged when you experience true empathy gazing into the committed eyes of another. It’s in the vibration of the sounds when you intently listen to the story of another’s suffering and stay present with them. It’s the warm blanket of comfort that wraps around you when you share a few minutes with a soul who truly understands you.
As we roll through 100 cities on the Great Life Tour, I want to become intimate with the places we are in and the people we meet.
When I hang out with the city hosts, I want to listen deeply to the stories they tell about living a life they love and adding love to the world. I want to adventure off the beaten track and get cozy with what they love most about their community.
With my SoulSisters, I want to meet in the field of shared dreams, long hugs, knowing silence, big tears, and bigger laugher.
With my clients, I want to be the soft, safe place for them to land when they are feeling stuck, anxious, confused, unfulfilled, depressed, traumatized or off-track. I want to catch the real and raw truth of their pain and their desire.
And, really, occasionally living in an eighty square foot van with my ex-husband and our bright Suns is the epitome of intimacy.
My word for the year is about supporting what I’ve already said yes to as well as cultivating a space to grow even more wildly into my soul’s desire to live freely and love deeply.
I’m ready to let all the love in and let all the love out.
Intimacy will show me how.
She’ll show you too, if you’ll let her.