I Love You ❤

I love you, woman with two dogs who lights up when she sees me, who stopped me last November to talk of her distress over the Cult of #45.

I love you, odd lumbersexual who looks at my chest, not my face (eyes are up here, dude).

I love you, rude cyclist who hit my arm carelessly because your skill does not match your perceptions.

I love you, homeless sweltering in the heat under the bridge, I wish I had magical answers to alleviate your suffering today, no one in society should be kicked to the curb.

I love you, cool senior couple holding hands, who look like they have been together forever.

I love you, grey-bearded naval veteran who blew past the weightlifter taking his ego for run, running with complete joy.

I love you trees, river, and buildings.

I love you bridges, monuments to our ability to work together toward common big goals despite our apparent differences.

I love you world, I love you all so deeply that I feel the infinite energy of Love surge up through me, filling me with peace, joy, and happiness.

I love you.

I walk a lot on the Portland waterfront at lunch, I see a lot of people.  I was inspired to write this while experiencing the sober bliss of intense love, of connection, of shared struggle. I’m often inspired by the poetry of Walt Whitman.  When I first read his Song of Myself, I immediately said ‘YES! THIS!’

Despite our obsession with tribalism, arrogance of self, and fear, we are all One.  There are plenty of people in this world whose behavior I don’t approve of, but that isn’t love. People whose behavior is the worst, I see their suffering and fear.I can no more hate another than hate myself, because that’s effectively what I’d be doing.

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. – Buddha

When we really see this, when we can get past our fear of the Other, when we can stop comparing and judging, or reducing others to feed our Ego, we can really see.  I dream of a world of light and love, where we lift one another up, where our competition is to be the best person we can be, not to dominate or subjugate others. Love is our natural state, our fundamental vibe, often suppressed by suffering, our connection.

I love you. 💕