Many people hold an overarching sense of responsibility towards measuring up to the idealized self, based on what they do, what they achieve and who they’re supposed to be. 

We play many roles defined by our conditioned upbringing and society consumed by this pressure to be the providers, the successful, the ultimate picture of worthiness. Where is there space for love, acceptance, and self-soothing?

Today’s episode centres on the last chapter of my book about love. I explore how being unconditional doesn’t mean turning the other cheek, as the saying goes. It doesn’t mean that we must be selflessly tolerant. 

Love begins with the self, reminding me of a wellspring – a hole drilled into the ground to access the aquifer – the underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock. The aquifer needs to be replenished by rain to fill the well. Nature is continuously resourced in time.

Human beings are no different. We need time to rest and relax to heal and be replenished. We need time, if only a moment, to pause, to slow down and remember to breathe. We need time to tune in to become aware of our natural boundaries – to know when to limit the over-consumption of our inner well. 

This second-to-last episode of my podcast series on Mystical Intimacy is devoted to the gift of love and how it endeavours to remind us that we are sacred and compels us to trust in life because that is what we need to be whole, body and soul, and to thrive.