This morning as I sat journaling, Spirit sent me a message…
Your job is to teach people how to be loved.
It was more complex than that, the message. But that was the gist of it.
I’m sitting here wondering how to do that. Not, in general. I kind of get that my style of teaching generally helps people experience a particular brand of love and affection from the Universe.
I mean, specifically, right now. And what I’d like to do is tell you about my friend Michael. He passed away last week. For those of you who know my dear friend Lynn Trotta*, Michael is her husband.
Michael was put on my path when I was a very different kind of person. I’ve told you I’m a recovering perfectionist and control freak. Michael encountered me before the recovery part lol.
We met in a coaching certification program. I was still in banking, planning my exit, and doing what I always did back then – trying to control the variables.
Michael loved variables. And he eschewed control.
As Divine Intervention would have it, we became partners in that program. Every week we met to work the coaching tools we were learning. Most weeks he annoyed the f* out of me.
He saw through my organization and preparation to what it really was – protection from “letting go.”
By the end of that year a lot had changed. Michael and I were both certified coaches. I had left banking and had a big ol’ metaphysical experience in the desert where my intuitive gifts opened up.
If you had asked me at any time over that year if Michael loved me I would have told you absolutely not. I wasn’t even sure he liked me. But 17 years of friendship later I know that isn’t true.
I am quite sure we have spent many lifetimes lovingly annoying the crap out of each other so that we can learn what we need to learn. (For my part I taught Michael that life is a lot easier if you don’t fight every rule that comes along.)
So why am I telling you this?
It is likely Spirit has served you up some irritating circumstances, possibly even some really shitty ones, that has you wondering if Spirit loves you. And after 17 years of friendship with Michael what I can say confidently is this… sometimes Spirit sends you the most frustrating experiences to shove you right the f*ck onto the path you need to get to.
She does this because She loves you this much.
The night before Michael passed I texted him and Lynn something. It was an article about someone in the spiritual space that we all knew to be problematic. The article was criticizing that spiritual leader.
I wrote the text and deleted it 3 times because neither Michael or Lynn plays in the petty world of spiritual gossip. I try not to either but something kept pushing me and finally a voice in my head said “Just send it already!”
We had a brief exchange where Lynn in her normal beautiful graceful way completely ignored the gossip and said “I love and miss you!” And because she said that I said it back to both of them.
The night before he died I told Michael I loved him for the first time in 17 years of friendship. I one hundred percent know he did not need to hear it but I am sure glad I got to say it.
Michael was healthy and died unexpectedly and peacefully in his sleep.
So, two notes about love…
- Sometimes Spirit makes you uncomfortable because she loves you and
- As crazy and confounding as we may find being human on the planet today, it is a privilege to experience love in a time of contrast. Tell someone you love them today.
With love,
Patty
*P.S. If you have ever participated in a program with me that included ceremony, Lynn Trotta is the love and grace behind those ceremonies. She is the person who has taught me the true meaning of making something sacred, and she continues to be an anchor of grace and love on this earth. Please hold Lynn and their daughter, Oonagh, in your heart.
I know many of you have connected with Lynn personally over the years. If you’d like to learn more about Michael’s life or support Lynn and Oonagh, you can do so here and here.
