Learning to love without conditions invites you to explore your connection to self, the world around you and the people in it.
For myself, the exploration began with a simple question:
‘What gets in my way’?
I had already discovered a path for loving myself without exceptions but I found that other people brought a whole slew of other dynamics that tapped into additional parts within the matrix of me.
So, being the philosopher scientist lover that I am…I explored.
And basically, the practice of unconditioned love got even juicier.
I began to observe my connection to everything in the world around me and my experience of love. I would see varieties of flowers, trees, babies, animals and would reflect on how I felt. Never once did I place any conditions on my loving any of them. I might prefer some more than others but none were ‘lesser or greater’…they were all equal yet diverse. I could love and appreciate freely.
So if I could be present and without judgement for myself and non-adult humans, what was occasionally getting in my way with the grown ups?
Generally speaking, it was personality. Personality is such a beautiful tapestry of energies that can touch into so many places within us. And it can also light up challenges.
So my next question was:
“In order to truly love without exception, how can I do that when personality comes with the package?’
What I discovered for myself was a practice of learning to see or feel individuals at their essence. To imagine them when they were first born. (And yes, quite literally to sometimes see them as small babies in my mind’s eye.) When I connected to that, everything else could fall away. It became easy to love them unconditionally, even if I didn’t enjoy their company. Because this isn’t about eradicating personalities and opinions but instead learning to not be attached to them. And so I discovered how to stay present with my personality and their personality equally, all while having that connection beyond it.
Not only did this teach me how to love others more authentically, it showed me where to breathe more love within myself. It showed me places I didn’t even realize were there until I got curious, listened beyond the veil and ushered close the sticky bits inside of me.
And like anything you practice, it becomes easier and easier until it is no longer a separate practice. It is just you…liberated and open to infinite possibilities.
So, where do you get sticky? What challenges your ability to love without conditions even when you might not like someone? What compels you to judge others, creating imbalances through elevating or diminishing them? Where do you still invest in your attachment to ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the many aspects of life where there are so many other options?
Every moment and exchange in life offers us insight and material for exploring within ourselves. This isn’t about fixing something broken in us, it’s really about seeing patterns that have been below the surface with new vision. It’s about actually choosing our habits and how we direct our thoughts as opposed to just going with what has been pre-programed. It’s about unveiling potential that frees us into new energy, ease and possibility.
Because ultimately, that exists within each one of us beyond limitation.
Soundbodywisdom 