PR Straight Talk

As some of you may have by now surmised, this is more than a public relations blog; for no human being is entirely circumscribed by his or her profession.  We are all citizens of Life, and we all share the events of birth and death – and in between we each experience the light of the same sun, the same moon, and we breath the same air.  Each of us partakes of  life’s blessings and challenges, each of us strives to fulfill our uniqueness, learn the lessons we’ve come here to learn, and if we’re lucky, we learn about love – life’s greatest gift.

A long time ago, as I was walking down lower Fifth Avenue in New York City, it occurred to me that the two greatest blessings are love and freedom.  It struck me that real “love” is a state of feeling and being that comes without condition, without attachment or obligation, without stress.  Love comes freely and it comes through the heart.  Inside love is a simple value:  kindness and reverence for life.  Not just my life, or the lives of the people I’m closest to, or people exclusively – but all life.  Love reflects an understanding that we’re all connected – humans, trees, blades of grass, dogs, cats, elephants, ducks, insects, whales and swans.  We’re all expressions of Life’s longing to express Itself.  We’re all of the One, as individualized creative manifestations of that One.

So love is a state of being where I recognize myself, and of my essence in you, and in all living things.

Freedom is the gift of breath.  Of breathing the breath of life easily and effortlessly.  Freedom is the gift of being naturally and organically myself, of self-acceptance and self-love.  It is the gift of tolerance for others, and their right to be their natural selves.  Freedom is about savoring each moment as one in which I can make my own choices without control or constraint from others – as long as I respect others’ rights to make their own choices. Freedom lived is lived without worry.  It is about complete and natural self-actualization, moment-to-moment.  It is a completely organic creative joyous state of being.

I think that to be blessed with love and freedom, coming to us from the inside out, is a high state of being.  Whatever your religion, it seems to me that in the essence of any spiritual practice are the messages of love, kindness and freedom as manifested by love for self, love for one’s fellows and all life, and the freedom to be our truest and most authentic unique selves as God made us.  True love will spiral up to love of God and the sense of “His” presence everywhere.

Whether you’re Christian, or Jewish, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or Muslim – or walking your own unique path – to the extent that you live unconditional love in your heart, and in a state of freedom from the inside out – then you hold the Keys to the Kingdom.

Surely, the child born in the manger came to be the bearer of the good news that unconditional love is God’s gift to all of us along with the freedom to be the precious beings we each are.  The essence of that same message must be at the heart of every religion, and to me that is the litmus test of authenticity.  That is why this is a season we cherish, whatever our religious or cultural affiliation – because the messages of love, kindness and freedom are universal, and embraced and recognized  deep in the hearts of all peoples – and all life – everywhere.