Open Window Creations Valentine Reflections 2008 Greetings! On this day I invite you to consider the essential and inextricable connection between self-love and the love of others. I was reminded of this connection yet again on a recent flight to Arizona while listening to these familiar words: "Should oxygen be needed, a mask will appear above your seat. Put your mask on first and then offer assistance to those traveling with you." It makes great sense. If we don't get oxygen, we lose consciousness quickly. We are not available to support anyone else. If, however, we have access to our own oxygen source, those dependent upon us have a chance of surviving. Imagine the inspirational words below as your oxygen mask. Read them, and take a deep, life-giving breath... Heart-Full Blessings, Patricia Lynn Reilly The Essential Connection The failure of modern culture lies not in its individualism, not in the fact that people are too self-interested and selfish, but that they are not concerned enough with the interest of their real self, that they do not love themselves. -Erich Fromm Self-love is a basic need of the personality. Just as the body requires calcium to be healthy so the personality in the same biological way needs esteem from others and from self to achieve emotional health and actualization. - Abraham H. Maslow As one respects oneself so one can respect others. That is one of the peculiarities of human personality that can always be depended on. If there is a valid and real attitude toward the self, that attitude will be manifested as valid and real toward others. It is not that as you judge so shall you be judged, but as you judge yourself so shall you judge others. - Harry Stack Sullivan When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh         Everything worth having costs something, and the price of true love is self-knowledge. Becoming acquainted with yourself is a price well worth paying for the love that will really address your needs. -Daphne Rose Kingma       Loving yourself...does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own       heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion.  -Margo Anand       Life is swift and precious while it's in our grasp. Loving yourself is such a small act of appreciation for the everlasting Love that breathed you into being and on whose wings you will be carried when it's time to leave this life. -Paula Reeves Metal Scupture by Jack Middleton View more of Jack's work at Open Window Gallery     Imagine Lovers Until you imagine something, it remains an impossibility. Once imagined, it becomes your experience. Imagine lovers... Who smile in each other's company. They say a strong and sensual YES to each other. Their YESes meet and fill their experience.  Who tell the truth about what works and what doesn't. They co-create solutions for their shared challenges. No truth is too hard for them to speak or hear. Who spend purposeful time together. They cultivate life-affirming friends and experiences. They share the everyday details of life with ease and grace. Who guard each other's solitude. They cultivate spaces in their togetherness. They delight in each other's individuality. Who turn toward each other with heart-full attention. Their sexual and orgasmic impulses are moistened by their emotional connection and flow naturally in each other's presence. Who support each other's creative impulses and expression. They welcome and encourage shared creative adventures. They aren't afraid to color outside the lines. Who share a spiritual practice of silence and reflection to stay in alignment with the essence of their love. Gratitude for ALL THAT IS fills their relationship. And so it is! Imagine Loversİ Patricia Lynn Reilly, 2003 Excerpt from Words Made Flesh, 2004 Open Window Creations

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