Hear Me Universe #11. Likes Adventure

Hear Me Universe
#11. likes adventure

Adventure. A deep yearning to push beyond our limits. A quest for expansion. A view of the world as bountiful and worthy of exploration.

I've always loved the moment when the vista before me is of the mountain range. Driving to visit my daughter while she was in school at Virginia and seeing the first glimpse of the Blue Ridge Mountains always took my breath. I know the first time I spied the Cumberland Gap with my own eyes, I could feel the majesty that, no doubt, the first settlers also felt as they adventured West. Seeing the expansiveness of space and time and life in front of me is an experience that I love sharing with my life's partner.

Hear Me Universe #10. Willing to Make it All About Me

Hear Me Universe
#10. willing to make it all about me

All. Not all the time, but from time to time, I want it ALL. Like how it was when I was a kid, and it was my birthday, and I got to have my way all day long. So, I like birthday-days and birthday-hours and birthday-moments. Mostly, I like choosing what feels best to me and being honored for that choice.

Claiming this desire can still feel uncomfortable at times for me. There's been some deep energy in me that places a priority on sacrifice, so extremely that it becomes martyrdom and, as far as I can tell, playing the martyr is the fastest path of feeling powerless.

Don't confuse a focus on SELF as being SELFISH and don't fall into the scarcity mindset that says, "if I feel awesome, someone else must feel less than awesome." That's false and limiting and minimizing.

Hear Me Universe #9. Loves Pets

Hear Me Universe
#9. loves pets

Perhaps it's the capacity to love the vulnerable and the selflessness to care for creatures that offer unconditional love. Perhaps it's the understanding that the same life force that pulses through me pulses through all. Perhaps it's the simplicity of playing with the dog and feeling joy. And, it is also, no matter how many times our cat, Beatrice, asks for the door to be opened so she can go in & out and in & out all day, my love spoils her in doing so.

Hear Me Universe #8. Love People

Hear Me Universe
#8. loves people

You're likely seeing themes emerge already from my first 8 characteristic, and "loves people," for me, ties to kindness. It was Plato who's credited by some for saying, "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle." What if we were to view all those whose paths cross ours--the stranger on the street, the driver in traffic, the announcer on the radio--as valiant and perfect in this human life? How would that change the way we see the world?

When I wrote, "loves people," I felt a desire to share a life with someone who had the capacity to see the bigger picture. And, when we view others through a lens of love, we increase our capacity to see ourselves in this way.

This self-love, yes, is inextricably linked to our ability to love others. When I view myself as perfect--that whatever I bring to my experience is perfect for me at that exact time--I can better view the whole of humanity more gently.

Perhaps it's best said by the great Sufi poet, Rumi, in "Guest House":

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Hear Me Universe #6. Kind

Hear Me Universe
#6. kind

A kind heart. A kind spirit. A kind demeanor. A kind smile. A kind gesture.

What I know is that kindness spreads kindness, and I expressed this desire on my list to experience kindness, to be kindness, and to expand kindness. What I focus upon expands, so I choose to focus on what I want.

And, kindness is not just defined by the act.

As Mark Twain wrote, "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." Kindness, therefore, is an energy that we FEEL in the giving and receiving of such acts.

Hear Me Universe #5. Smart

Hear Me Universe
#5. smart

Yep. Smart. I love deep, philosophical conversations. I love to talk about topics that feel complex. When I wrote "smart," I felt that engagement in a conversation that comes from a willingness to think.

When my kids were growing up, their dad and I wanted to help them be thinkers, so we asked them to choose a topic each week that they wanted to learn about (the choice was 100% theirs), read and learn about it, and come to the dinner table on Sunday evenings and talk about the topic. They were so adorable and sincere, showing up each week to share the information they learned. It was our way of cultivating intellectual curiosity and, yes, knowledge. No, it didn't last years, but the number of Sundays we gathered for dinner to learn and talk are memories that I treasure.

"Knowledge is power." This phrase is often attributed to Francis Bacon, in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597), and has been used over and over by other great thinkers.

So, in making your list, consider what experiences you've had that you really liked and let that feeling guide your love list. You're the creator, here, so create what you want.