Love Has a Way
Creating the kind of community our hearts long for
#55
As I reflect on what words want to flow through me this week, the word Love is what keeps coming to heart. Often when I make the space to write, I never know exactly what will come through. I close my eyes, tune my inner ears to Spirit, and allow whatever arrives to find its way onto the page.
I've written before about Love in many different ways, so I found myself wondering how this word wanted to reveal itself again. The response that kept coming back was simple: Love is the beginning and the end. It is who we are and what we are here to share.
There are only ever two core emotions: Love or fear. Yet the distractions of the world continually invite us away from our truest selves, pulling us toward fear, uncertainty, division, and control. Some might call that the human condition. I simply see it as the daily invitation to choose again. As we continue growing ourselves and raising the vibration of Love through our own souls, we naturally create more peace, freedom, and compassion within ourselves and for those around us. That feels like a pretty worthwhile journey.
As I sat with that thought, an image from How the Grinch Stole Christmas came to mind. His heart, once too small, grew ten sizes after being surrounded by Love. The Whos down in Whoville continued singing no matter what had been taken from them. Their circumstances changed, but their capacity to Love did not. Because they remained anchored in Love rather than fear, goodness found its way back.
There is something timeless about that message.
These past couple of weeks have offered me many opportunities to practice it.
A trip into Portland to have my hair done by a longtime friend, who also happens to be my hairstylist, created space to spend time with my parents and my son as well. That hasn't always been an easy road. My family, probably like most, had and has its challenges. There are people who don't communicate with one another, including myself, for energetic boundary reasons, and there have been seasons when my parents and I weren't particularly close either.
To arrive at this place in my life, where I can genuinely enjoy being with them while honoring everyone's individual journey, is something I don't take for granted. I have deep empathy for those who cannot be around their own families for whatever reason. Even during these visits, I continue practicing not slipping back into younger versions of myself, not overgiving, not feeling responsible for everyone else's emotions, and not allowing old patterns to quietly reappear. Every family gathering becomes another opportunity to choose Love in a healthier way than I once knew how.
That, more than anything, makes my heart happy.
I grew up playing poker and card games, and my own children learned those traditions as well. What a gift it was to sit around the table together again. This time, though, my dad's memory had declined to the point where he no longer remembered how to play or even what to do with the cards in his hand. My mom lovingly cares for him, and while he isn't yet at the point of needing full-time care, we all know that season is slowly approaching.
Oddly enough, I didn't feel sadness watching him struggle with the cards.
Instead, I found myself appreciating the imperfect father he was while recognizing how steady his Love for our family has always remained. Sometimes we become even more grateful for people as we begin seeing them through softer eyes.
While I was away, Tim spent time with his own son, and when I returned we all shared a meal together. Now we're preparing for my brother and sister-in-law to visit from Texas for a few days of cooler weather and lake life. I've been meal planning for weeks—something I genuinely love doing—and taking an extra day off work to spend that time together feels like another beautiful expression of choosing Love. Tim and my brother have very different personalities and don't agree on everything, yet there is mutual respect between them that I deeply appreciate.
That feels important too.
Through my work, I spend ninety minutes to two hours at a time talking with people about the lives they hope to create and what they feel is keeping them stuck. One conversation I have repeatedly is how much people believe life changed after COVID. They describe feeling more isolated, disconnected, and unsure how to find community again.
I see some of that here at the lake as well. Compared to a few years ago, the summers have felt quieter. Fewer boats. Fewer families. Less activity. With rising costs and increasing financial pressure, many people simply aren't traveling or gathering the way they once did.
And I wonder if, beneath all of that, we're quietly longing for something much deeper.
Connection.
Community.
Belonging.
Love.
At the same time, I understand the importance of protecting our energy and honoring healthy boundaries. Learning where openness ends and self-respect begins has taken me years to understand, and I still continue practicing that balance. We don't have to choose between protecting ourselves and loving others. We simply learn how to do both with greater wisdom.
The Whos down in Whoville may have lived in a storybook world, but I can't help thinking they represented something we all long for: a community where people feel supported, seen, and known.
As my final month here at the lake begins drawing to a close and I prepare to return to Texas, I realize I'll have another opportunity to intentionally create that kind of community around me in a new neighborhood, a new home, and a new chapter of life. My North Star remains the same. If our thoughts help create our reality, then I'll continue choosing to place my attention on what I would Love.
And on that note, the new house continues making beautiful progress. I had my pre-drywall construction meeting this past week, and the roof is on, the windows are in, and the electrical and plumbing have all been completed. I recently shared a short video on Instagram and Facebook showing the progress from a bare lot to where it stands today. Watching so many people contribute their gifts to building something that didn't exist just a few months ago feels like another reminder that we never truly create anything meaningful alone.
The community we long for isn't built all at once. It's built one act of care, one choice, one relationship...
One expression of Love at a time.
To your highest and best,
Dianna
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