“To live in love is Life’s greatest challenge.” – Leo Buscaglia, also known as “Dr. Love”
The Bluebird of Happiness
Once upon a time, two children—a brother and sister—went out into the world to find a cure for their ailing bird. After a long, exhausting journey, they returned home dejected, empty-handed. They had searched everywhere for what would restore life to their beloved companion.
And here is the beautiful twist: upon arriving home, weary and discouraged, they discovered their bird had healed and was waiting for them, whole and vibrant, in their own backyard.
What does this timeless story whisper to us?
Coming Home to Yourself
This is the final blog in my series on Katherine Woodward Thomas’s transformational work in Calling in “The One”. In this series, we’ve been excavating old patterns, healing ancient wounds, and learning new practices (revisit weeks 1-6 if you’re just joining us). And here’s the profound irony and beauty of the work. I found, at least for me, all this searching, all this inner work, brings you back to yourself—the one you’ve been looking for all along.
In my family of origin, I learned to constantly scan the room, reading faces and anticipating needs—trained to look outside myself to ensure others were happy. Through Katherine’s work, I was led to a liberating truth: the only pathway to happy, healthy love is going to be about my learning to listen to my own needs first and then expressing them in ways that create genuine connection. My own healing is my stand for a foundation for healthy connection.
This isn’t a consolation prize, a “learn to love yourself until someone better comes along.” This is the profound recognition that how you walk in the world, how you see Love, IS how you ARE Love.
As Buddha reminds us: “You can search the whole world over and never find anyone more deserving of love than yourself.”
Journal Prompt: Being a Blessing
In How to Love (2015), Thich Nhat Hanh writes:
“The first element of true love is loving kindness. The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness… You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself.
So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Practice mindfulness so you can create moments of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person.”
Take a moment to sit with this question: What would it look like to truly be a blessing—first to yourself, and then to those you love?
Carry Forward
I close this “Calling in “The One” series with one of my favorite poems, this one by Derek Walcott:
Love After Love
“The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.”
An Invitation
If this seven-week journey has stirred something in you—a longing to come home to yourself, to heal old patterns, to create the love you truly deserve—I invite you to connect. Whether you’re navigating a relationship transition, calling in new love, or simply ready to meet yourself with fresh eyes, I’d be honored to support you.
Ready to begin your journey home? Contact me to explore how coaching can support your path to living love fulfilled.