To Love Yourself Changes Your World

I was speaking to an employment recruiter and I spoke to her of love in society and work. She indicated there would be better words to use like ‘positivity’. She was speaking in a work context. I said to her it is interesting how we don’t use the word love. It is considered a romantic term and we move away from it in respect of professional etiquette and society. As a clown I explained to her it is about connection. She said she felt uncomfortable with the word and I discovered that love was not talked about much in her life. I wondered of her childhood. However, she was open to what I was saying.

I would surmise it is because I am a clown and for clowns to show love and humour is our job. In truth, for me it is not a job, it is a joy to love people. The true clown gives of the heart, it is not performance. The joy within me is to see the joy in you. The enjoyment of life is love in action.

So we talked about my work as an educator and creating a love based classroom. She is a teacher and she was interested in my work. She spoke of the toxic environment when she was in the classroom, the Principal’s focus on outcomes and scholastic results rather than the real needs of children. She said she had a special needs child in her class and he went ballistic and kicked her in the head. She had concussion as a result. She then told me that the Principal told her to wear the injury as a ‘badge of honour’. I was stunned at such a statement. Why place special needs kids in with regular kids given their disparate needs. How can a teacher work a teaching plan for a wide range of children and deal with special needs. She said she wasn’t trained for it and felt ill equipped. It also draws her attention away from the other kids. I don’t disagree that special kids should experience normalisation, to connect with regular kids, but not in an academic way as they are different. The issue was the lack of love in schools and she found herself very stressed but was determined to stay the year for the children. She since left teaching and found herself in recruitment. She said what she has learned in recruitment is you can’t judge people. She said many have had real challenges in their lives and she has an open mind. I noticed how helpful she was and I noticed it was real service. I really enjoyed meeting this woman and her complete honesty with me. She agreed workplaces are toxic these days, so we focussed on possible contacts for my work. She even gave me her email, perhaps we can work together in the future.

Our conversation on love picked up and I explained it should not be confined to a romantic term but a normal, connecting, community term where through love we find our purpose in life and others benefit. Through love we meet the needs of children. I am following what I love, that is why I live on little and write this blog. I love sharing with you. I feel wealthy beyond belief.

You will note in the title I say ‘changes your world’. I am not saying ‘changes the world’. It is not outside you, it is within you that real change occurs, then the world changes, naturally. Activism is a personal journey, it has nothing to do with others or getting fired up. Love has no opposition it joins with all, even perceived enemies. In truth it is your thoughts about them that are negative, that is your work. Then when you lead by example, it allows people to live their own way. I recall a story about Gandhi where a mother told him to tell a child not to eat sugar, it is bad for his health. Gandhi refused to give advice. The mother left disappointed. Two weeks later they returned and Gandhi told the boy to it would be better to quit eating sugar. The mother was perplexed at why now he offered advice. She asked him and he said “two weeks ago i had an obsession with sugar. I needed time to see if I could cut back”.

So you may reconsider condemning the politicians or those in power for the shape of the world, and choose to make changes. You have to change first, as what you see in the world is a reflection of you. If you see corruption, you will find it in your life, if you see aggression, you can find that too. If you find the environment worsening you can find your part in that when you bought material things. I can find it in me. That is responsibility, and when seen, you realise you can’t be an armchair critic you join with those condemned and start to work together. The working together is simply an attitude of alignment, it doesn’t mean the other will work with you, but it means you will not attack them, as you see they are you. What you may do instead is pick up the rubbish, stop criticising others, buy organics, not lie nor manipulate and choose to be an honest example to children. Be the change you wish to see is the key. That is a big change, it means questioning yourself, not others. We find that uncomfortable, as it takes great love to look within at the shadows, yet when you do they enlighten and disappear. There is a saying ‘what you resist persists, what you look at disappears’. We acknowledge the shadow it loses power, that is the microcosm that changes the macrocosm. We are indeed one.

So here is a poem I wrote now. Love was in my heart. I send love to you and through you to this world, which is healing.

TO LOVE YOURSELF CHANGES YOUR WORLD

I am in love,
And it is an unspeakable joy,
The aurora lights of hope shimmer in my eyes,
It greets me upon awakening in truth,
It sleeps with a perfect smile,
As the dungeons and dragons of our own making,
Are slayed in the fire,
Of transformation.

The happiness of having no home,
I call freedom,
The unbounded possibility of no job,
I call spontaneity,
The self determination of having no partner,
I call dominion,
Transmutes uncertainty into a love without limits.

When I loved him,
I asked – can I love the world in this way?
When I felt selfless devotion to him,
I asked – can I devote my life selflessly to the world?
When I suffered to the point of ending my world,
I asked – can I give love to the world unconditionally and heal it?
For imagine such a service,
Sustained by love,
In every moment,
That is the love that changes this world,
And it is your true nature.

Therefore: when you change, your world changes
Indeed there is no other way

World peace is saying sorry when you are wrong,
World peace is looking within to sing your song,
It is to see our misdemeanors,
With humour,
To take full responsibility,
For that is the ability to respond,
For thoughts, words and actions in-form the world,
For any thought grounded in fear is false,
All thoughts of love is nature connecting,
Each thought is a flower greeting the sun,
Growing your true nature.

We can invest millions in education,
We can invest millions in emotional/social programs,
We can invest millions in sustainability,
But if the intent behind the investment was not loving service,
The money will squander,
The toil will spoil,
Minds will wander,
As there is no universal vision,
Each operating to service their own needs
under umbrella’s of service,
To build their own power structure,
As structures of power over others,
All protecting what is theirs,
To find the world was built on shifting sand,
And disappearing top soil,
For this is the good seed,
Followed by bad.

It is time to envisage your future,
A collapsing deck of financial cards?
or
Cooperatives of peace building?

Are you aligned with:

Defence or allowance?
Truth or cowardice?
Denial or courage?

For these are the 3 horseman that will define your world,
And love has the power to dispel the shadows,
For it is the shadow of humans,
That drives all into slavery,
The denied shadow self illuminates pain,
Painting rosy pictures of abuse,
As the ship sinks,
For the ice caps are indeed melting,
Gaia is indeed listing,
The electromagnetic shield is diminishing to zero point,
As poles change places,
Imagine the scenario,
Bermuda triangles opening up,
Around the world.

Can you change places?
Can you find places of change?
Can you flip from negative to positive?
Can you find your zero point?
for this is the centre of stillness,
This is the joy stick that navigates,
It can not be found in violent games,
For this is the shadow parading as control
in roles of violence camoflaged as fun,
Yet it enslaves to pain for personal gain,
For to move beyond this state of affairs,
One must care,
About themselves,
And then others,
Only then,
Will their world change.

To love yourself,
Is the hardest test,
For you do not know yourself to love,
But to re-member this,
One must listen to the heart within
which knows,
You must follow the desire that leads to joy
to grow,
Not pleasure seek,
Nor filling gaps,
But joy that needs nothing external,
It is the joy that is eternal,
The violet flame,
That is pure and still,
For it will light your way,
Home,
And home is always where our heart is.