Every time I get the gift of being with children I'm reminded of what pure joy, pure authenticity looks like. So when I walked in the classroom of The Dreamery of YWCA Kalamazoo to read in celebration of Black History Month, it was no different.
What was different, however was how much the kids gravitated to me. Although children have always been drawn to me and vice versa this was exponentially different, to the point that the staff coined me the "child whisperer" which is one of the best honors I've ever been given.
I believe this is because children are pure love, unfiltered. Even in the face of trauma many children can and often do hold onto love in their heart. And because I have done tremendous work over the last five years to heal, and therefore cultivate light within myself, we were drawn to each other like magnets.
Light purely attracts light.
Purely, meaning, when we strip away the pain we've endured in this lifetime which has robbed us from living life fully, therefore experiencing joy much of the time.
As this month draws to an end, I'm also almost done reading All About Love by bell hooks, and it supports the power of love to draw in abundance with ease.
Love is the highest vibration emotion that exists, yet we spend little time reflecting on what it truly means to love. Echoing the work of Erich Fromm, hooks defines love as "the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."
Loving on ourselves is the most important thing we can do to receive the love that matches that. I was just telling a friend that If I was going to have a "lover," they had better damn sure be able to love me equal, if not better to how I love myself.
Anything less than that is simply not on the table.
Getting to this place took a long time though. As I describe in Me Too: A Therapist's Journey to Heal, Find Liberation, & Joy, there have been a myriad of ways I abused myself, and allowed others to do the same over the years.
This was a a reflection of the lack of love I had for myself.
We all have the power to claim whatever we want with the time we've been given. My hope is you'll find some of that power in Me Too.
In the meantime let me leave you with a mantra on self love which you can use with ease all throughout your day.
I am love, I am light, I am worthy of it all. I'm worthy simply because I was born. There is nothing I have to do to be loved or worthy - I already am.
And if you could use support in cultivating more love into your life, hit me up so we can schedule a free coaching call here. That way you can feel what the power of coaching can do for you, much like it has for myself and so many.
Let's get this love ladies,
Demarra West
Founder
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