Embracing and Committing to a Labor of Love

I recently posted on Facebook about a website I love and have mentioned here before, KarunaVirus.  I described how it is someone’s Labor of Love, a way that this organization and its volunteers build a more compassionate world.  People maintain the website, not because someone pays them to, but because it is how they build a better world. 

This notion of having a Labor of Love has deep resonance for me.  The idea that each of us, if we want to live in a different world than what we see around us, can find a way to actively create that world.  We can each embrace and commit to our Labor of Love.  Something we do not because someone pays us, but because our hearts and souls tell us it is our special way of making the world better. 

I am realizing that it is insufficient to pray for change, if prayer or faith allows us to let ourselves off the hook in terms of actually doing something.  It is insufficient to care about tragic circumstances in our world, but not actively engage to change them.  It is insufficient to wish others would address these big hairy issues and leave it at that.  It is insufficient to donate money to good causes and let someone else do the hard work of making change happen.  On some level, we choose this world when we don’t actively engage to create the world we want to live in. 

If we are truly committed to creating the world we wish to live in, it takes each of us getting our hands dirty with our personal Labor of Love.  You might be wondering what defines a Labor of Love.  I’m figuring it out as I go.  It seems to me it must have impact beyond our own families.  It must come from a place of love and service and be driven by the values each of us want to see manifested in a better world. 

Some might argue that through their paid work they can create a better world.  Maybe they can.  My strong sense, though, is that this world we seek to bring about isn’t driven by money and the actions it will take to get us there may not be things people or companies are willing to pay us to do.  Thus, we must act from the love in our hearts  and not a monetary incentive.

What we’ve seen in the last few months with a proliferation of free offerings (Zoom dance classes, yoga, meditation, laughter yoga, etc.) are examples of people freely sharing their gifts with others to reduce suffering and improve happiness and well-being.  What I am suggesting is like this, but on a much larger scale.  Imagine how our world could change if every single human being freely shared their gifts to improve conditions for other people, animals, and our Earth…That’s the world I want to live in! 

If you want to be inspired, look at the website below (and watch the video) about Wound Walk OC, someone’s Labor of Love.  This project focuses on tending the wounds of the homeless in California.  http://www.lfhtoledo.org/news/index.php/2020/08/14/helping-the-homeless-wound-walk-oc/

I urge you to open your heart and listen deeply to it.  What does your heart have to share with you about the world it wants you to create?  How are you called to serve at this moment in our evolution?  A dear friend recently created a short meditation that helps us to start to open and listen to what our hearts can share with us around how we are called to serve.  I invite you to meditate with my friend Gayle and see what you can learn. 

Friends, please share your vision for the world you want live in and how you’re building it.  When we all undertake our unique Labor of Love, we reject the world as it exists today and we strike out to build the world we want to see.  I’m on the journey with you and am excited about what we can accomplish together. 

With Love, Hope, and Action for a Better World,

Colleen