Ways to Spread Love

Meditate

Have you heard the study done where a bunch of people meditated in Washington DC during the summer of 1993 and the city saw a drop in crime of over 20%.  The police chief was at first skeptical of the idea, but as the study progressed he became a convert.  And this study is not a lone wolf – it has been repeated multiple times with the same results.  Here are some links to a variety of different types of articles depending on what kind of information you like: world peace website; actual study with lots of math and numbers available for free download; article from news site.

Students of metaphysics or those involved in the new age movement have long known that our thoughts proceed our actions.  There is an old occult axiom “all energy follows thought”.  So it is no surprise that people meditating can indeed effect change.

So what does this mean for you?  It means that you can make the world a better place just by staying in your home, even from your cubicle at work, even stuck in a traffic jam on a highway.  Just take a few minutes everyday and meditate.

The meditators in the study mentioned above were trained in Transcendental Meditation, but you do not need formal instructions to create this kind of local or even global impact.  Simply using a mantra such as “love” or “loving kindness” while meditating can help spread love to your environment.

See Love

Many people are now familiar now with the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto who did a study on water molecules and found that writing different words on their containers effected the shape and structure of the water when looked at under a microscope.  Simply by saying loving and kind word at the water changes their structure making them look like beautiful snowflakes, while negative words ended in ugly structures.  Some people have worked to debunk Dr. Emoto’s work, but those who work with energy know that those positive vibes just feel better.

Now think about this – our bodies are made primarily out of water.  What kind of effect could you create on yourself simply by wearing positive messages on your clothing?  I found this website – Super Love Tees – and ordered a few shirts that say Love on them.  I’ll let you know if they have a positive impact on my demeanor and how I feel.

And I believe that this impact will help even those other than the shirt wearer. The people you interact with on a daily basis will then read your shirt and think the word “love”, thus giving their water molecules a nice boost.

Smile

Smiling is contagious. Yep, this is something that you actually want to spread and catch.  So why don’t you be the carrier and start the next smiling epidemic.

When I was in middle school I decided to do a little experiment.  I smiled and waved at everyone I crossed paths with.  This included teachers, people driving by in cars and random people on the streets (I should note that I lived in a pretty safe neighborhood so this wasn’t a dangerous thing to do).  And you know what I found – the majority of people smiled back.  I could see the expression on their face change in a split second.  And I also noticed something else, some people would start to look forward to my smiling and waving and anticipate it.  It also led to teachers at my school knowing who I was and stopping to say hi even though I had never had them in a class.

So why don’t you continue this experiment in your own life and smile at someone you don’t know.  She what happens.

Say “I love you”

Saying I love you is a powerful thing, again, see above about the power of our thoughts and intentions.  By verbally speaking these words we continue to spread this love energy to those in our immediate environment.

I believe Hollywood has made saying these three words into a big deal and it really shouldn’t be.  We should feel comfortable telling those people around us that they are loved on a daily basis.

I remember thinking about this in high school and realizing that I didn’t say “I love you” very often, definitely not enough to the people that I really cared about.  So guess what I did – I consciously started saying “I love you” every time I hung up the phone with my sister or when my mother was leaving for work.  It felt funny at first, I’m not going to lie, but eventually it became second nature.  Now we all say “I love you” at the end of a conversation.  And you know what, I’m teaching my daughter this habit as well so we can continue to spread love one sentence at a time.

Be you

You know the best way to spread love to other people?  Love yourself.  You know how to love yourself – just be you.  Be who you are deep inside, not who the media tells you you should be.  Show the world that you can love yourself just the way you are and maybe they will start loving themselves as well.

This one has been particularly hard for me since hitting puberty.  How often are we afraid that we are going to be judged by our peers?  This is also something that I have been working on recently – just being me and not caring what others think or being worried about their judgments.  And you know what, usually when I’m just myself other people respond with enthusiasm and start to let a little more of their true self out.

I distinctly remember an encounter in high school where one of the cheerleaders came up to me and gave me a colorful bandaid.  I was confused at first and then she explained that she thought it was so cool that I wore bandaids that weren’t just plain tan coloring so she went out an got herself some fun bandaids.  This was something so small – something I wouldn’t even think of as different – but it made an impact in this cheerleader.  She wanted her bandaids to reflect more the inner cheerleader instead of the boring normal.  So, although I likely would not have picked out the shiny sparkly bandaid, it was a symbol that she actually thought it was “cool” that I felt comfortable being myself.

Now I think this is perhaps the hardest thing to do – to just be you and not care what other people think.  It is something that I work on every day and I am making a conscious effort lately to let my inner me shine.  So as I peak my head out of the broom closet I hope to see some other friendly witchy faces waiting for me.  We can all wear our love shirts and smile and wave at each other – spreading love instead of hate.

How will you spread Love today?