You Have Always Been in Love

You Will Always Be in Love

You have always been in love. You will always be in love.

In fact, it is impossible for you NOT to be in love. You would be unable to get out of bed each morning unless there were someone or something that roused your heart and stirred your imagination.

So please admit that you are alive because of love; that you are MADE of love.

I invite you to write a list of five things you love and devote some time in the coming days to expressing your appreciation.

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LOVE LOVES LOVE

Time for some Love Bombs:

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.”

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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Be my ruckus, my perfect non-sequitur. Be my circuit-breaker, my lengthening shadows at dusk, my nest of pine needles, my second-story window. Be my if-you-stare-long-enough-you’ll-see. Be my subatomic particle.

Be my backbeat, my key of C minor, my surly apostle, my scandalous reparté, my maximum payload. Be my simmering, seething, flickering, radiating, shimmering, and undulating.”

—Andrew Varnon

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I love you between shadow and soul. I love you as the plant that hasn’t bloomed yet, and carries hidden within itself the light of flowers.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. Because of you, the dense fragrance that rises from the earth lives in my body, rioting with hunger for the eternity of our victorious kisses.

—Pablo Neruda

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Let’s heat up the night to a boil. Let’s cook every drop of liquid out of our flesh till we sizzle, not a drop of come left. We are pots on too high a flame.

Our insides char and flake dark like sinister snow idling down. We breathe out smoke. We die out and sleep covers us in ashes. We lie without dreaming, empty as clean grates.

Yet we wake rebuilt, clattering and hungry as waterfalls leaping off, rushing into the day, roaring our bright intentions. It is the old riddle in the Yiddish song, what can burn and not burn up, a passion that gives birth to itself every day.

—Marge Piercy

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You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day’s wage.

You are my divinity, my madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and purification. You are my rapscallionly fellow vagabond, my tempter and star. I want you.

—George Bernard Shaw

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The air I breathe in a room empty of you is unhealthy. The merest whisper of your name awakes in me a shuddering sixth sense. I am longing for a kiss that makes time stand still.

—(The preceding testimony is a blend of words from Edgar Allan Poe, Pamela Moore, and John Keats.)

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Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk everything, you risk even more.

—Erica Jong

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We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.

I want to hold you close like a lute, so that we can cry out with loving. Would you rather throw stones at a mirror? I am your mirror and here are the stones.

—Rumi

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I love you more than it’s possible to love anyone. I love you more than love itself. I love you more than you love yourself. I love you more than God loves you.

I love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone in the history of the universe. In fact, I love you more than I love you.

—A voice in your dream

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For a relationship to stay alive, love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because we first stopped imagining.

—James Hillman

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Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath.

—Emily Dickinson

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Holding your hand, I can hear your bones singing into mine and feel the moon as it rolls through you.

—Sara Eliza Johnson

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Your body needs to be held and to hold, to be touched and to touch. None of these needs is to be despised, denied, or repressed. But you have to keep searching for your body’s deeper need, the need for genuine love.

Every time you are able to go beyond the body’s superficial desires for love, you are bringing your body home and moving toward integration and unity.

—Henri Nouwen

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The giving of love is an education in itself.

—Eleanor Roosevelt

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The bottom line for those of us who love humanity, not just our tribe, not just our own selfish interests, is this: What are the most effective actions that we can take that will reduce the amount of suffering in the world and save peoples' and animals' lives?

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Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.

—Audre Lorde

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Image by Christian Spencer

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TO KNOW SOMETHING OR SOMEONE, YOU MUST LOVE THEM

In order to understand anyone or anything, you have to love it. I don’t mean feel romantic passion from it, or express any version of love that is tinged with expectation or sentimentality. This love I mean is characterized by compassion, empathy, and lovingkindness.

To open yourself up with love to an iris or redwood tree or hermit crab is to assert that you find it worthy enough to bestow blessings upon; and furthermore, that you find it worthy of communicating with.

Because when you open yourself with love to understand a living thing, you make it possible for that living thing to communicate with you in its own language and through the lens of its unique intelligence.

When you open yourself in love to understand a living thing, you are showing it that that you want to perceive its essence and that you are also willing and even interested in being influenced by its essence.

You’re proving you’re receptive to its specific intelligence speaking through its special language—not your own intelligence and language.

This gives the living thing—iris, redwood, or crab—a great gift.

I'm not being metaphorical or poetic here. I'm not using fairy tale logic. My meaning is literal.

Every living thing is a cell in the Divine Consciousness. Is a special case of the One Intelligence expressing itself.

Everything LONGS to express itself so that you can take it in. And everything LONGS to thereby give you the gift of itself.

This is not a selfish longing to be seen for itself so much as a longing to give you the special wisdom and beauty that it alone possesses and channels: a longing to give the unique glimpse at the Divine Consciousness that comes through it alone.

In giving your loving attention to the iris or redwood or crab, you are showing it that you want to understand it. This allows it, in turn, to give you the tremendous and mysterious gift of its special intelligence, expressed through its unique language.

The gift you receive is double: You’re able to get out of yourself, able to transcend your narrow interests and intelligence sufficiently, to learn how to understand the iris or redwood or crab in its native tongue.        

The second gift is that you’re able to harvest the actual benefits of the “information” that the iris’s intelligence and language convey (and redwood’s and crab’s), whether than information comes in the form of an intuition about the nature of reality, or an opening in yourself of the part of the universal God hologram that corresponds to the iris or redwood or crab.

Yes, you are a tiny hologram of the Universal Projector, the One and Only Hologram, but sometimes, in order to “turn on” parts of the Universal Hologram within you, you have to open to those parts in the physical world.

This is an important part of my strategy to enter into a variety of altered states in my quest to viscerally commune with the Divine Consciousness, a.k.a. the mind of Goddess.

If I can learn to speak the language of the iris and redwood and crab, and somehow awaken in myself the part of my intelligence that is like an iris’s and redwood’s and crab’s (and it’s all there, since I contain or rather am a hologram of the All-in-One), then I have in effect achieved an altered state.

I have jolted myself out of my normal human humdrum awareness and added to my repertoire a fresh perspective, an additional mode of perceiving and understanding the world: as the iris or redwood or crab does.

Let’s say I can do this every day, in little or big ways.

At least once every day, and sometimes more on my freer days, I can open my heart-brain with love in the attempt to understand the essence of a iris or redwood or crab, and can, thereby, allow the iris or redwood or crab to do what comes naturally for it, to do what it was made to do, which is to unveil itself to me in glorious extravagant fullness, with its own love nature bursting

. . . and so the iris or redwood or crab can initiate me into the mysteries of its intelligence, teach me how to experience the world as it does, and bestow on me the power to alter my state of awareness—giving me yet one more tool for knowing Goddess’s mind not just conceptually but with gnosis – with visceral understanding.

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YOU HAVE TO LOVE

Louise Erdrich writes: Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning.

You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up.

And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.

—Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum

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HOW TO PRIME YOUR ECSTATIC SKILLS

Nothing primes your ecstatic skill better than invoking and expressing thanks. So consider the possibility of celebrating regular Gratitude Fests. During these orgies of appreciation, you could confer praise and respect on the creatures, both human and otherwise, that have played seminal roles in inspiring you to become yourself.

Who teaches and helps you? Who sees you for who you really are? Who nudges you in the direction of your fuller destiny and awakens you to your signature truths? Who loves you brilliantly?

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OUR LOVE IS A WARM DAMP WIND

Our love is a warm damp wind through the manzanita grove, a meditation on the votive light where red, purple, and bronze converge.

We dream together in a bed made of lost time, sipping the gold that leaks from our virtuoso memories.

Our murmured laughter escapes from secret jokes. The sun at midnight tempts us to believe every confusing thing is true. As we roll and tumble down the imaginary a green hill, celebration commands our lazy perceptions to snap awake! "Be real wild, not fake wild!"

We transform our creature telepathy into song talk, restoring the glory of playful language to its rightful place as ruler of all discourse.

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MORE PRONOIA RESOURCES:

Queensland Continues to Transfer Millions of Acres of Wilderness Back to Aboriginals in Australia. https://tinyurl.com/5n7xfzvx

Wind And Solar Generated a Record 10% of the World’s Power in 2021 – Victory for Paris Agreement.  https://tinyurl.com/bdf6crz3

Students Write Adorable Letters on ehalf of Shelter Animals to Boost Adoptions – And it Works. https://tinyurl.com/2p8najav

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For a lot more pronoiac resources and ideas, read my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings

It's available as an ebook at Barnes and Noble:

https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaNook

As an ebook at Amazon:

https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaEbook

If you have the Apple Books app, click on it and search for "Pronoia."

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The hard-copy book is available at Bookshop.org: https://tinyurl.com/548hp8y8

Available at Powells: https://bit.ly/PowellsPronoia

Available at Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaBN

Available at Amazon: https://bit.ly/Pronoia

A free preview of the book is available here: https://tinyurl.com/PronoiaPreview

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Please tell me your own nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES: Truthrooster@gmail.com.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week beginning May 19

Copyright 2022 by Rob Brezsny

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): According to the blogger Artemisiasea, "The grandeur of life is the attempt, not the solution. It's about behaving as beautifully as one can under completely impossible circumstances; making room for what breathes in the presence of the attempt—in the coming-to-be." I invite you to embrace that wisdom in the coming weeks, Gemini. You won't be dealing with impossible circumstances, but you may have to navigate your way through fascinating brainteasers and heart riddles. Whatever your destination might turn out to be, enjoy the ride with all the verve you can summon. At least for now, put aside your longing for particular results and instead simply live your life as if it were a magnificent work of art.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): It will be in your interest to change more than usual in the coming weeks. I suppose you could wait around passively and scramble to adjust as life flings challenges your way. But the better approach would be to make conscious decisions about how you want to transform. Identify the situations that would most benefit from modification and then initiate the transitions. Rather than depending on fate to provide you with random wake-up calls, choose constructive wake-up calls that are fun and invigorating.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "If everyone likes you, it probably means you aren't saying much," declared politician Donna Brazile. I suspect you will disprove her theory in the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will have a lot to say; your communications will be even more interesting than usual. And yet, I also expect you will receive extra respect and appreciation from others. While you may articulate ideas that are challenging to some, you will do so with enough charisma to disarm agitated reactions. A winning combination: expressiveness and approval.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Have you heard of Virgo adventurer Reinhold Messner? The man is a marvel, and not just because he's a passionate environmental activist. He was the first mountaineer to reach the top of Mt. Everest alone, as well as the first to ascend Everest without supplemental oxygen. No one before him had ever climbed all 14 of the world's peaks higher than 26,000 feet. He has transited Greenland and Antarctica without the aid of dog sleds or snowmobiles. He also completed a solo trip across the Gobi Desert. I propose we make Messner your inspirational role model for the next four weeks. You may not achieve history-making triumphs like him, but you could surpass what you assumed were your limits. I trust that you will break at least one of your personal records.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "The world is a very puzzling place. If you're not willing to be puzzled, you just become a replica of someone else's mind." Author Noam Chomsky said that. It's useful counsel for you right now. I'll go even further. I will advise you to relish the healthy pleasures of being both mysterious and mystified. Seek out fertile enigmas and be a fertile enigma yourself. Explore the rejuvenating wisdom of being indefinable and uncategorizable. Exult in the quizzical joys of Eternal Paradox.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Have you ever contemplated the beauty of the people and animals you care for and thought, "I would love to give them the strongest blessings I have to give, the smartest love I can express, and the best listening I'm able to provide." If so, Scorpio, the coming days will be an excellent time to do that. You will have an extra capacity to offer exceptional gifts that are useful and inspirational. You will be at the peak of your ability to home in on what your beloveds need.

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LOVE YOUR LIFE!

How's your fight for freedom going?

Are you making progress in liberating yourself from your unconscious obsessions, bad habits, and conditioned responses?

Are you turning out to be the hero of your own life?

For assistance and inspiration, tune in to my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES.

To listen, go to https://RealAstrology.com

Register and/or log in through the main page.

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The cost is $6 per sign online. (Discounts are available for bulk purchases.)

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"Your expanded horoscopes get more personal and intimate with me than some of my closest friends. Thanks for the loving reflections."

—Ari Schlectman., Ann Arbor, MI

"When I listen to your audio 'scopes, my free will lights up."

—Alex Denares., Los Angeles

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian author Madeleine L'Engle told us, "The discoveries don't come when you're looking for them. They come when for some reason you've let go conscious control." That approach isn't absolutely true, but it may be useful for you to deploy in the coming weeks. I invite you to relinquish at least a modicum of your conscious control. And if zesty discoveries start flowing in, consider relinquishing even a bit more conscious control.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Is it a legend or a true story? Scholars disagree about whether Capricorn scientist Isaac Newton really was spurred to formulate the theory of gravity when an apple fell from the tree he was sitting beneath. This much is certain: Newton lived in the home near the famous apple tree. And that tree is alive today, 380 years after his birth. Ripe apples still fall from it. Is there an equivalent landmark or keystone from your own past, Capricorn—where an important insight arose or pivotal event happened? The coming weeks would be a good time to revisit that power spot, at least in your imagination, in quest of fresh inspiration.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian poet Jack Gilbert devoted himself to soulful beauty. I swooned when I first read his line, "We must unlearn the constellations to see the stars." I cried for joy when he said, "We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world." On the other hand, I suspect Jack may have been overly consumed with his pursuit of lyrical moments. His girlfriend Linda Gregg said, "All Jack ever wanted to know was that he was awake—that the trees in bloom were almond trees—and to walk down the road to get breakfast. He never cared if he was poor or had to sleep on a park bench." I bring this up, dear Aquarius, hoping you will avoid Gilbert's lack of attention to practical matters. In the coming weeks, I invite you to be your extravagant, idiosyncratic, interesting self to the max. But also be sure to eat healthy food, engage in pleasurable exercise, and get plenty of rejuvenating sleep—preferably in a comfortable bed rather than on a park bench.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Uberfacts Twitter account informs me that if you were to consume the amount of food equivalent to what a hummingbird eats, you would eat 300 hamburgers or 7,800 cabbages per day. To match the amount of exercise a hummingbird gets while burning all those calories, you'd have to do approximately 37 bazillion jumping jacks. You will never do this, of course. But in the coming weeks, you may be more metaphorically hungry than usual. I predict you will be voracious for new information and novel experiences and fresh ideas. Not 300 hamburgers or 7,800 cabbages' worth—but still, a lot. My advice: Have fun being insatiably curious and greedy for stimulation.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): "The only way to the truth is through blasphemy," declared Aries author Flannery O'Connor. I appreciate the cheeky sentiment, but I don't believe that all truth requires blasphemy. In many cases, rebellion, irreverence, and skepticism may be enough to pry loose hidden and buried information. Outright blasphemy isn't necessary. What does this have to do with you? Well, I'm hoping you will be feisty and audacious in your quest for interesting truths. As you dig, I invite you to be less than perfectly polite. Don't be rude or unkind, of course. Just be charmingly bold.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me," declares comedian Margaret Cho. I would love for you to summon her level of self-esteem and bravado in the coming weeks. According to my interpretation of the astrological omens, you now have the right and duty to boost your self-worth. All of creation is conspiring with you to develop more faith in yourself. And if you do the work to deepen your confidence and self-esteem, there will be an added bonus: a health breakthrough. As spiritual author Caroline Myss says, "Belief in oneself is required for healing." My prediction: You will rouse an enhanced power to get the soul medicine you need.

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Homework: Is there a situation you're being lazy about? Should you be more discerning? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2022 Rob Brezsny

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