Only More Love
I know and understand the very real pain, fear, and heartbreak you experience as you witness someone you love shift in a direction you never expected or wanted for them. Your loved one also experiences pain, fear, and heartbreak as they shift in a direction they never expected or wanted for themselves.
You are both likely dealing with some difficult emotions like confusion, grief, worry, disappointment, frustration, and possibly even shame. All of it is real and valid.
Each of you is deeply yearning to be seen, heard, understood, and met with compassion. Each of you is longing for comfort, patience, and love. The fear of disconnection, rejection, and being misunderstood can be overwhelming.
So what do we do? How do we approach this difficult and uncomfortable situation? What do we say? How do we mourn with, comfort, and love another when our own grief is so big we can hardly see around it?
The Only More Love program is designed to help you navigate this new path with compassion and connection. If you have a desire to remain connected to family, friends, and neighbors whose beliefs shift and you aren’t quite sure how to approach them or engage in their lives anymore, this is for you.
Our broken-open hearts are doorways leading into a more beautiful way of relating to each other. They open us up to the common ground of shared humanity. We all share the experience of suffering. We’re all wired for belonging. We all share the yearning to be seen, heard, loved, and understood.
When we walk through that doorway, we have the opportunity to bear witness, mourn with, comfort, and transform our shared pain into something profoundly beautiful.
Strong roots of authentic connection can be grown here. Increased understanding can bloom, while a deep well of love that never ends can open up and water the ground providing the optimal conditions for growth.
The tool we’ll use to cultivate this is self-compassion. If we are to love others as we love ourselves, then let’s start, right now, with ourselves. We’re going to walk through the door of our own broken heart. When self-compassion increases, we are able to more confidently, skillfully, creatively, and clearly see, understand, and support another.
Self-compassion works best when it is practiced little by little, consistently over time. Practicing what might be a new skill for all of us is an opportunity to build on common ground and find something we can all believe in together.
This newsletter is designed as a safe, gentle, loving, neutral place to meet and increase our capacity for love. The only thing you’ll be asked to change, or consider, is the amount of compassion you give yourself.
You’ll receive four newsletters a month. The first three will contain the following:
A simple daily practice of bringing awareness and self-compassion to your suffering, big or small.
Connection questions and conversation starters for approaching a loved one in faith transition.
Compassionate insight into the emotional experience of both the pain and beauty of faith transitions to gently increase understanding and empathy.
A five minute journaling prompt to help you tap into the love that already exists within you.
The fourth newsletter of the month will be a love letter to both of you as you walk this path together.
Everything this program invites you to do is simple and fits right into your everyday life. The only extra time you’ll need is five minutes for journaling at least once a week, and a brief moment or two of stillness each day.
The Only More Love Newsletter can be found on Substack. The first few issues are available for free. The rest are available for the introductory price of $5 a month or $50 a year until January 1, 2024 when prices go up. A monthly subscription gives you access to the newsletter for that month. A yearly subscription gives you access to the entire archive. To receive a 30% discount, subscribe together by choosing the group option.
Your newsletter will arrive in your inbox every Monday.