Love is so complicated. And gorgeous. And messy. And constantly evolving. And our deepest participation in the Source of all life and Love. And so much more than the heteronormative, stuff-based expressions of love that are encouraged on Valentine’s Day.

When I was going through the process of separating from my first husband, and ultimately divorcing, I had the chance to learn about love in radically new ways. As I released that iteration of romantic love, I had a chasm in my heart. I took that space on many walks with me. I would weep and talk to the Spirit, questioning what I thought I knew about enduring love. In those months and years, I received this message of reassurance: You are loved. You are loving. You are loveable. Period.

I frequently repeated that mantra, “faking it until I made it.” And I started to see all the ways that the divine was loving me through the land. During that time, I came upon this heart when walking in a marsh near our home.

And the next year, while on retreat in Canada, these bleeding hearts sent my broken heart some love.

And a few years later, I was hiking in Arizona. My heart was heavy because my dear friend Judy had recently been diagnosed with a rare cancer that would take her life within the year. This sign of the connection between our hearts appeared to me and comforted me.

And prior to his death, my brother was going through an extremely difficult time. I went to the beach at Limina and found these heart rocks within minutes. One for him, his wife and baby girl, and for my stepmother. Love is all around even in the darkest times.

And I took this last picture when visiting the easternmost point in the USA this year – Lubec Maine.  Even litter can reveal love to us.

I could (and do!) fill baskets with heart rocks that I’ve gathered in the last ten years, and if you come to visit us at Limina, you’ll see many of them around the house. If love is complicated for you, I hope that you will allow these images to expand the ways that you receive love. Truly, love is everywhere, especially when we start looking for it.

You are loved. You are loving. You are loveable. Period.

Abundant blessings to you, my dear friends,

Libby