The HELLO LOVE Experiment

The Communion of Hello Love

2009-08-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

I was listening to Sofia Diaz and Diane Musho Hamilton Sensei this morning on a conference call. They spoke of autonomy and communion. I was taking notes and breathing and enjoying the Saturday morning cool. In the side bar, I wrote: "Hello Love is communion." It is the dance of merging. Just for a moment. We are all autonomous and individualistic. We know how to separate and create. But Hello Love reminds us that we also know how to MERGE. We know how to breathe beyond our comfort zone and into something much larger and life giving.

This poem by Czeslaw Milosz captures this communing:

Love

Love means to learn to look at yourself
The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills.
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.

Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn't matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn't always understand.

(New & Collected Poems 1931-2001)

We stand in the glow of ripeness in our moments of Hello Love and we have no idea whom we serve in doing so.
It is a chain of goodness that begins the moment we dare connect.

Big love.

The Hello Love Experiment - CHAPTER TWO

2009-08-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

It's been an amazing month. The Hello Love Experiment is ready for its next unfolding. It's remarkable how the energy starts to swirl around a new intention. I've been talking about the Hello Love Experiment again with renewed passion and commitment and suddenly I'm receiving phone calls and emails and offers of help. Friends and strangers are reminding me of the power of these two little words.

Chapter Two of Hello Love is a kind of Back to Basics.

Here's what I'm going to do:
1) Talk about Hello Love wherever and whenever I can
2) Practice Hello Love daily
3) Remind everyone how SIMPLE the practice is:

a. Meet someone's eyes
b. Say "Hello Love" -- silently or not
c. See what happens
d. Repeat

And finally

4) Create a Hello Love Day that will be celebrated across the world in 2010. I will choose point people across the globe that will decide how to practice hello love in their community and we will all share the results of our simultaneous experiment!

As with any labor of love, there are many moments of questioning. Does this work? Will this work? How can I invest more fully? Am I crazy? But thankfully these days, there are even more moments of great JOY and a profound inner knowing that this is exactly the work I must do.

And there's lots of work to do! So, if you want to be a part of growing the Hello Love Experiment, let me know!

BIG LOVE to you all.

Hello Love in Prison

2009-02-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

This story came from a wonderful woman in Arizona who has been experimenting with Hello Love for several years now. She always checks in with us to see what is developing and has been amazing about supporting our efforts. The following story is what Hello Love is all about:

Back in 1998, after reading the book Conversations with God, Book 1, I
attended several retreats facilitated by the author, Neale Donald Walsch.
At the second retreat one of the women present stood up and said that
because the author had been receiving numerous requests from inmates in
prisons around the country who had read this book and desperately wanted to
correspond with like-minded folks about the different ideas and concepts
from the book and about spirituality in general. So Walsch and his
foundation, ReCreation, started Books for Friends, to send hundreds more of
these books to prisons and then to match up inmates' names with people on
the outside who were willing to discuss myriad spiritual and metaphysical
concepts with them. I was one of those people who chose to do this and have
been doing so since 1998.
One of my inmate friends is housed in a prison in Florida and I have
been corresponding with him for about ten years. Last year I told him all
about the Hello Love Experiment and sent him your Home page. Shortly
thereafter he wrote, saying it sounded like such a wonderful idea.
But yesterday I got a letter from him that showed the Hello Love
Experiment in action, and here are his words:
"I must share with you how I handled the situation I was in with a
so-called 'friend' of mine. He was angry with me and even wanted to kill
me, or so I thought. So I tried the Hello Love Experiment. I looked at him
and smiled and said 'hello love' silently and a big smile came across his
face. So we are at peace now. Thank God."

It certainly inspired me to practice more!
Love to all.

Lemonade and Hello Love

2008-09-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

My daughter Kate woke up yesterday and wanted to set up a lemonade stand. I was reluctant. I was tired and too pregnant and didn’t relish going to the store for supplies. I had a quieter Saturday morning in mind.

But Kate LONGED to set up a lemonade stand. She asked me how else a kid is supposed to make money. I told her I’d be happy to pay her a dollar to help me move books into the garage. She didn’t like that idea.

Finally, I relented. We went and bought ice, lemonade and paper cups at Vons. I bought one carton of lemonade. (No, we didn’t make it from scratch). It was a grey day and I was fairly certain she would get next to no one stopping by.

I was wrong. Kate set up her table. She made a sign that said “Lemonade 10 cents” and placed it in front of the table. I brought her lemonade and ice and some change. She sat down and BEAMED at cars passing by. She waved. She smiled. She was delighted.

Within 15 minutes, we had 20 people come by. People stopped their cars. Families walking by stopped and bought five or six cups. We met about 10 new neighbors. We had to close the stand for seven minutes while we ran to the store for more supplies. (By this point I was delighted and fully on board).

Kate was the embodiment of HELLO LOVE. Everyone she saw she welcomed in and wanted to share her delight. She was fearless and radiant.

I realized part of my reluctance in the beginning was about feeling hermit like. I didn’t really want to interact. I didn’t want to open up. She was wide open and curious and willing and wanting to interact with all.

We all have a lot to learn from a joyous 5 year old. All our grumpy resistance to meeting the world crumbles in the face of such eager, open joy.

Humbling Moments

2008-08-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

Too many blogless days have passed. I finally have a moment alone and I’m seizing it. I talked a lot about Hello Love at a wedding I attended last night. It was good to be sharing the experiment and good to have people respond so favorably.

Something happened yesterday that I’ve been wanting to address. I found a long lost friend on Facebook. He was a dear friend in the summers of 1983 and 1984. We did Shakespeare together at Interlochen Arts Camp. I haven’t seen or spoken to him in at least 15 years. I am so happy to reconnect!

I was catching him up on other Interlochen alumni and much to my embarrassment found myself writing the most simplistic, judgmental stuff. “She’s moved to Idaho and has become hugely religious. She seems happy.” “He’s a Jehovah’s Witness and his wife doesn’t like me and ever since I mentioned astrology, he hasn’t written me back.”

After I hit send, something just felt off. I was communicating what I knew. But it was nothing but reductionist gossip. It was separating and quietly judging. And I thought, “here I am doing the Hello Love Experiment. What is wrong with me?”

The wedding I attended last night was a mixed faith wedding. The bride is Jewish and is from Israel and the groom is originally from Virginia and his family is Christian. This is not unusual. But what did seem unusual was the complete lack of tension. It was a beautiful blending and honoring of family traditions. It was a beautiful honoring of the members of each family. There were no reservations. There were open hearts and minds. It was lovely to be there.

I know I am an open-hearted, open-minded, compassionate human being. But I also catch myself reducing or minimizing another person’s choice of faith when I don't completely understand the choice or when I feel the choice is somehow limiting.

When my friend wrote me back he said,”I guess matters of marriage and faith can’t be argued with too much.” He focused on all the positive info I had given and kindly ignored my oversimplifications and sensationalizing. I was grateful and humbled.

I guess it’s just a good reminder for Hello Love. Part of Hello Love is greeting a person with love. And part of it is LISTENING to how that love is received. And when we genuinely offer love, it opens something in another human being and what is shared from that offering must be handled with respect and care and an attempt to understand even the most outrageously different points of view. So, ANY conversation where another person is sharing something meaningful in their lives is a conversation that must be honored and held with sensitivity and understanding.

A good wake up call for me. It’s too easy to categorize people. It’s too easy to be dismissive. I want to listen and communicate in ever more compassionate ways.

The Perfect, Stone-hard Beauty of Everything

2008-08-13T14:14:00.001-07:00

I love poetry. Many of you that read this blog may know that. One of my favorite poets of all time is Mary Oliver. My husband put this poem in a card for me on my birthday three years ago. I love it.

The Poet with his Face in his Hands

You want to cry aloud for your
mistakes. But to tell the truth the world
doesn’t need any more of that sound.

So if you’re going to do it and can’t
stop yourself, if your pretty mouth can’t
hold it in, at least go by yourself across

the forty fields and the forty dark inclines
of rocks and water to the place where
the falls are flinging out their white sheets

like crazy, and there is a cave behind all that
jubilation and water fun and you can
stand there, under it, and roar all you

want and nothing will be disturbed; you can
drip with despair all afternoon and still,
on a green branch, its wings just slightly touched

by the passing foil of the water, the thrush,
puffing out its spotted breast, will sing
of the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything.

-Mary Oliver

One of the reasons I love it so is that there is always the thrush, puffing out its spotted breast who will be singing of the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything. We can be in our deepest despair, our most self-pitying moments, our most self-absorbed state and if we only look out and beyond ourselves for a moment, we will see the ‘thrush.’

This is part of the beauty of Hello Love. Hello Love reaches out beyond our despair, names someone love and releases us a bit from our constriction. It reminds us of the beauty of interconnection. It reminds us – if we look closely – that others are carrying their burdens as well. But one look can light a path for both to welcome the song of the thrush.

Hello Love sings out the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything.

Backing up into Hello Love

2008-08-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

I almost ran into someone in the Trader Joe’s parking lot yesterday. It wasn’t fun. I had pulled into the narrow entryway when someone started to back up without seeing me. I quickly started to reverse but then saw a man standing by the store entrance with a rather horrified look on his face signaling me to stop. I turned around and there was a woman pushing a cart almost directly behind my car. She look startled to say the least.

Thank goodness I didn’t hit her. I took a moment and said a small thank you that I avoided that.

I apologized profusely and she kindly accepted the apology. She ended the conversation by telling me to just be careful when I’m backing up. It’s a kind of interesting philosophical life question. What might you hit if you start going in reverse?

In any case, the man by the storefront was glaring at me like I’d done it on purpose. And even though the woman had been gracious, I began to feel very small. I pulled into the parking space, turned off the car and just sat there for a few minutes beating myself up.

I found myself saying things like, “And here I am with a Hello Love sign on the back of my car. What kind of Hello Love is that? I’m just a flaky, spaced out pregnant woman who is not being present. I should just go hide.”

I found it interesting that I had immediately thought about Hello Love. And my inclination was to apologize for having such a sign on my car when I’m driving like such an idiot. My immediate desire was to disappear.

I think we tend to do this to ourselves in other situations. I’ll be honest, I’ve even been reluctant to go out and hold up the Hello Love signs since I’ve been pregnant. I immediately leap to the feeling that people will think I’m just a crazy pregnant woman standing on the corner.

This gets to the root of – at least MY PROBLEM. And I suspect others might feel something of the same. Somehow, unless I’m in the best, most radiant, most amazing state, I don’t think I’m worthy to be talking about love. I guess I feel like I need to be inhabiting a kind of transcendent place to spread the love or to not feel silly daring to be that vulnerable.

I wonder if it’s why many people don’t dare to extend. I wonder if the monologue goes something like, “Well, I’m screwed up in so many ways, no one would possibly love me so why should I dare extending love to anyone else.” It’s a kind of protective stance so we won’t have to suffer rejection.

But that’s what we’re all learning about in this experiment. It’s certainly what I’m learning. No matter what state we’re in, no matter what blunders occur, no matter how many mistakes we make, we have an opportunity to stand in love. Others may not be wanting or ready to accept that love if we’ve really botched something, but we never have to apologize for continuing to stand in the stream of love.

Every moment, there’s an opportunity for us to forgive ourselves and continue to stand in that rare place of being daring enough to extend love and vulnerable enough to receive it.

Pregnancy Pillows and Hello Love

2008-08-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

It’s 3 am. I guess one glass of green tea at 7 pm isn’t a good idea. Or maybe this is just the way it’s going to be for the next 17 pregnant weeks. We shall see.

Anyway, have you ever seen a pillow like this? It’s saving my life. It actually makes it possible to sleep comfortably no matter how big my belly.

As I was all nestled into it tonight in the two hours before I woke up and could no longer sleep, I started thinking about the glorious metaphor of this pillow.

You may just have to experience it yourself to believe me, but when nestled right at the center if feels as if I’m buoyed on all sides, protected or enveloped in a great white nest. It’s as if the womb I’m providing to wrap around my new little boy has a big soft replica outside my own body.

I must say, pregnant or not, I wish this pillow experience for everyone. Maybe I’m just 3 a.m. delirious, but there’s something so comforting in the feeling of being supported and held in this way.

My husband jokes that he’s been replaced by a large white pillow and I must admit I feel a bit like I’m on a raft on our bed, but the ability to fully rest my body and relax comfortably far outweighs the disadvantages.

And how in the world does this relate to Hello Love?

Rather like this pillow, Hello Love allows us to soften into a quieter, more true part of ourselves. Words have such power. And whether we speak them or receive them, when we speak of love -- when we name someone or are named love, for a glimmering instant we feel the truth of who we are.

Dare to Love Daily

2008-08-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am a student of the Tibetan Master Djwal Khul. In the 1930’s and 40’s, with the aid of Alice Bailey, he wrote over 30 books on education, astrology, a new world religion, and a new soul-centered psychology. He is a teacher of the Wisdom of the Ages and offers clear, potent, life-changing words about the necessity of intelligent love disseminated with power and potency through group work. As an astrologer, I have read his book "Esoteric Astrology" many times. He is an unceasing source of inspiration.

I mention him today because he also writes extensively about love. His definitions of love are unlike any I have read. He suggests (as I wrote in an earlier blog) that we do not even begin to love until that love is applied impersonally to groups, nations and the planet at large. Love has little to do with our sentiments or feelings towards family and friends. It has little to do with where we feel an affinity. It has everything to do with the selfless certainty that all whom we encounter are worthy of our upliftment and attention and intelligently applied compassion. It has everything to do with an unceasing stream of the will-to-good for all.

One very simple statement he shares is:

“There is love in all of you but it needs expression, and for that the group exists.” – Discipleship in the New Age, Volume II, p.15

This quote caught my attention today and inspired a suggestion for all of us.

Let us think about the concentric circles of care in our life. Let us think about the people we love and then too, the people we care about and like but don’t –in our personality lives – love. Let us think about the people we see everyday that are simply the cast of characters in our living.

Now, imagine if we were to take time each day to express love unreservedly to the members of each of these circles. These circles are our groups. The only way we begin to truly love it to take the welfare of the groups of which we are a part, into our heart, into our circle of compassion and care.

We are entering an age in which we must progress together or not at all. Until we learn how to love even those with whom we feel the least affinity, we are stuck in our own prison of jealousy, judgment or pride. Again, this is not a matter of being nice or liking everyone in the world. It is a matter of including all, sharing our light and intelligence for the betterment of the world.

Hello Love is one way to practice the expression of love within the group. We can practice it in the group that is our family with members with whom we feel friction. We can practice in the group that is our work community with those we easily write off or make fun of or generally ostracize. We can practice it in our community as we study our tendency to make certain groups “the other.”

Whether we are willing to admit it, we are on a long march together. And the moment we consciously choose, through our lack of care or indifference or meanness, to leave anyone behind even in our thoughts, we are slowing our own journey as well.

We are all walking though life with so much love that remains unexpressed and yet with so many opportunities to extend this very love.

Let’s begin a ‘dare to love’ campaign now.
Who are you next to this moment?
Whoever they are, they are worthy of your love.

Hello Love. Open your arms of care.

Auto Love

2008-07-31T23:01:00.001-07:00

There’s much to be learned about Hello Love in your very own car. I’ve had to laugh at myself several times in the last week as I observed my inner monologue. On the street, we all have to be civil or polite or at least indifferent. In a car, it seems, all judgment, rude behavior and indignation are back on full throttle.

Admit it. How often do you look over to a fellow driver and actually think something even remotely nice about them? Do you ever even dare smile? But even more to the point, how often do you find yourself swearing in ways you never would outside your car just because someone nudges in ahead of you or speeds up at a time you wish they wouldn’t?

And the car horn. The horn was invented to be used in an emergency—to alert another driver to possible danger. I don’t believe it was intended to stand in for a call to the immediate environs about how impatient or indignant or powerful we are. I also don’t believe it was invented as a universal release for all our pent up unexpressed daily frustration.

My suggestion. Start practicing Hello Love in the car. In fact, every time you want to honk your horn, think Hello Love instead. You’ll crack yourself up. Really. You’ll find yourself on autopilot ready to cuss out a fellow commuter and you’ll end up naming them love. And then you’ll think, “Wow – what if they really are love? What if LOVE looks like that.” And it does. It does look like THAT.

Once many years ago, I accidentally cut a woman off in traffic and we ended up next to each other at a stoplight. She turned to glare at me and I looked back and said (through the closed window), “I’m so sorry.” She could hardly believe it. It’s as if years melted off her face and she turned into a sweet, soft, welcoming thing. “Oh, it’s okay!”, she mouthed back. And we smiled. That happened 15 years ago and I haven’t forgotten it.

I think if we turned our heads to the car next to us and sent a little Hello Love to the anonymous driver on our left, we’d all have some similarly unforgettable connections.

Let me know if you try it.

Loving on a Larger Scale

2008-07-29T19:52:00.001-07:00

I don’t know how to do this yet. But I know it’s the goal. Until we bust beyond where it is comfortable to love, we’re not working the depth of what love has to offer.

So many of us think, well, it’s impossible to love on a larger scale because there are so many criminals, jerks or mean people out there. If I open my heart to all, that would be indiscriminate and foolish. How do I know if I say “hello love” to someone that they are worthy of that greeting?

No one wants to be Pollyanna. There IS evil in the world. I think learning to love on a larger scale requires sounding a higher note, so that even the darkest or most lost figures get swept up into an unstoppable current leading to something lighter and more clear.

Brass tacks. Should I walk down the street and greet each person I meet, silently or not, with Hello Love? How could I name someone who just did something atrocious – LOVE? Am I not feeding what is already dark? Am I not being insensitive to those hurt by that person? Am I not giving that darkness energy?

I don’t think so. A few things are important here:

1. Our actions are not being named love. Our purest essence –which is truly who we are – is being named love. The greeting is a reminder of who we are. And it’s a reminder that every moment we can choose for our actions to reflect that. It’s a call to ORDER.

2. Hello Love is not PERSONAL. It is naming something essential in each of us that’s all the same fabric. In that sense, it has nothing to do with each of us as individuals, only what we are ALL together. We are ALL woven of the fabric of love. Naming someone love invites them to remember that fabric—that circle of love. And that remembrance can be startling and purificatory.

3. Hello Love is not an isolated greeting. Each time it is spoken, it’s as if it cleans something up in the energetic field. It begins to build a thought form that has signficance and power. I believe “Energy follows thought.” Imagine energy streaming into the building thought form that we are --in our purest essence-- love.

Here’s the deal. Right now, most of us are only capable or for that matter only desiring to love our nearest and dearest. We use love in the context of family and friends. But I think we can begin to take these circles of love and extend them. And until we do so, we are not living love fully.

When we’re willing to begin EXPERIMENTING with this, we discover a dance of love and discrimination. Because love isn’t always pretty. Love can be fierce. Love can be protective. Love can be the law. The only way, for example, for us to extend concentric circles of love to our nation or our planet---love on a LARGE scale—is to be willing to see and name the purest essence of each person we meet but also be willing to deal effectively and powerfully with inappropriate action by that person or nation or community.

It’s a delicate balance. But it involves first and foremost a willingness to open to the possibility of love in each encounter. This will not be the reality globally for a long time. But if we practice remaining open where we usually let fear, judgment, embarrassment or laziness win the day, we can begin the preliminary steps towards loving on a larger scale.

Wearing the Tee

2008-07-27T11:09:00.001-07:00

I spent the morning folding Hello Love t-shirts. We have 5 big boxes full of beautiful t-shirts and in the last 6 months, they’ve gotten all mixed up. Today was the day to get it in order.

We’ve sold a lot over the year. That makes me happy. It made me even happier to think of getting all the remaining t-shirts out into the world. My husband’s cousins started the T-shirt company Life is Good. I see those t-shirts everywhere everyday. And it’s a GREAT message. I would love to see Hello Love t-shirts greeting the world in the same way.

It’s not that I’m so interested in having a t-shirt business. I just love the idea of getting the message out. I love the conversations that begin when people wear this shirt.

I’m sending a bunch of t-shirts out to my dear friend Jolie today. She ordered one for her little boy and one for her. I’m going to send one for her husband too. It makes me happy to think of people I love getting a chance to wear these shirts.

I love that my husband wears the Hello Love shirts to the gym practically everyday. He’s amazing. He is a force of relentless positivity and enthusiasm. I love that is a great trainer in a sea of ‘cool’ L.A. trainers and he happily wears what could be construed as a polly-anna message.

Infact, I love anyone that dares to take this message on and say “This isn’t just NICE. This is the real stuff. This is daring. Embracing the truth of this message could radically change our world.”

There I go again. I just get excited about this message whenever I start writing....

Love to all – heidi rose

Naming it ALL love

2008-07-25T13:37:00.001-07:00

I’m sitting in the living room of our home. It’s a little past noon. Kate (my daughter) is at school and Andrew is in the next room writing some emails. He just received some very disappointing news and we’re all reeling a bit. Without going into great detail, we believed he was going to begin a whole new line of work in one week’s time, but at the eleventh hour—most unexpectedly-- was not accepted into the department.

I’m writing about this because I can feel the difference in me from just 9 months ago. We are moving with and through the feeling of this-- but without panic or the desire to fix it. I am holding him with a lot of love and I am holding the whole situation with a lot of trust.

There was a kind of insistence in my HELLO LOVE in the first couple of years. I almost don’t know how to describe it. There was somehow an implied MUST. We MUST greet one another this way if we want to affect a change, if we want to make a difference. There was a kind of force instead of a ‘feeling into’. Feeling into this, I see love working in even the most difficult and challenging situations. I begin to feel my worst moods as love seeking expression. I feel my worst disappointments as love attempting to articulate itself.

In this very moment of Andrew’s great disappointment, I’m feeling into the texture of Hello Love. Hello grace. Hello beauty disguised as obstacle.

I guess I’m feeling the textures of things so much more deeply these days. What is the texture of THIS love? And feeling the texture is an action in itself. There is no ‘doing’ necessary. There is no fixing. There is only wonder, awe, perspective, presence.

I am present with Andrew in this unexpected unfolding story of love that LOOKS like rejection or LOOKS like he is being thwarted. And we don’t have to name it anything. I just like the experiment of naming it ALL unfolding LOVE.

We're Back!

2008-07-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hello Love!

Well, it’s been MONTHS. We’ve all been silent for a while now. The Hello Love tour was quite an adventure and I think we’ve all been reeling and digesting and re-integrating after being blasted open in such a profound way. I look at us now and I think, “Wow. We’re different. Much has changed. We’re all starting to live Hello Love in new ways. And even though we haven’t gone out to practice as a group for awhile, I can see how we are all looking at the world and living in it differently as a result of our Hello Love adventure thus far.

I was profoundly affected by our journey. And now, almost 9 months later, feel deeply the changes it brought about within my entire SELF. It’s my intention to write about this on a more daily basis and try to reflect how Hello Love manifests in small, daily ways.

I want to thank those of you that have been such amazing support during this time. Our friend, Philip Hellmich from Search for Common Ground, who we interviewed on our tour for the Hello Love Documentary, has been buying t-shirts and distributing them worldwide. He sends us pictures of his friends all over the world wearing the shirts. He’s a one-man movement. It’s wonderful.

And just a few days ago, I received a wonderful letter from a man in New Zealand who drives an ice cream truck and has for the past 20 years. He said he’d heard about Hello Love recently and loved it. He said he felt like he’d been practicing it for years already without calling it ‘Hello Love.’ He wants to be a part of spreading this greeting worldwide.

My own personal ‘Hello Love’ journey at the moment is one of turning inward. The trip was very much about extending a circle of love and living in it daily. My impulse now is to examine the circles that move concentrically inward to the very center of who we are. That is, to return in a way, to the beat of the heart and recognize the miracle of that pulse that runs through us all. It’s only when we are quietly centered in that heartbeat that we can extend fully. I think that’s in some way what we’re all listening for – the simplicity, the pulse of love.

I should also mention that I am 5 months pregnant with a new little love and find that Hello Love these days means embracing all the quirky, pregnant worries and aches and adventures with as much grace and ease as I can. Opening to it all. Opening to love in all forms. As Rumi (loosely) says, inviting in whatever and whoever shows up at the door as the most beloved houseguest. It’s all part of the one universal heartbeat.

We’ve had a Hello Love sign hanging on our front door for two years now. It’s quite amazing to see the response. Salesmen, mailmen, friends, neighbors have all commented on how simply good it makes them feel to be welcomed in this way. I guess that sign on our door is how I’m feeling about my life right now. I say to the new baby growing within me, “Yes, welcome. Welcome.” I say to my grumpy creakiness, “yes, come in. Sit down. I’ll take care of you.” I say to my friends who come knocking, “how lucky I am to have you in my life.” I say to the UPS guy, “Yes, you are part of the heartbeat that I too am part of. Welcome. Come in. Come in.”

It’s good to be writing about Hello Love again.
Tell me your Hello Love stories.....
~heidi rose

Spread the LOVE this Christmas!

2007-12-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

Laura and Edie

Give a HELLO LOVE T-shirt to your friends and family!
CLICK HERE to order

(Last day to order for Christmas delivery is December 18th :)

Happy Holidays!

The Music Video / Trailer

2007-12-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

Just a taste of the upcoming documentary... my heart just opens up watching this... thanks Heidi, Edie and Laura, and of course the filmmaker, Ben.

The HELLO LOVE Experiment Music Video
October 2007

My favorite part? The kids, Kate and Aedan, doing their job "putting up" the RV sign... !!!

radical love

2007-10-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

this is radical. it cuts to the heart of the matter. it is the medicine this world needs. thank you for your courage and your offering. please send all of my love to yourself, your daughter, laura and edie.

i love you.
catherine
10/22/07

HELLO LOVE Boulder

2007-10-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

Cheers Heidi,

Thanks for the email. I have told so many people about meeting the hello love ladies on Saturday. Boulder is a town with a great mind set for an experiment like yours.

I didn't realize just how much your experiment hit home until I got on your website. About 12 years ago, I read something in a book that changed my life and it is crazy how parallel it is with your experiment. It was in a sales book, of all places (Og Mandino, I think) and the idea was that when you meet someone, you silently think I LOVE YOU as you shake hands or introduce yourself, or whatever (this is sales, mind you). I was just starting my own business at the time, so I was looking for anything to help me get going and I embraced this practice with gusto! Well, after so much time, I can tell you that it works. I have shared the idea with friends and they have had success as well. As a matter of fact, my great friend, Terry, calls the practice "love eyes" since we didn't have a name for it. He still practices it all the time, and so do I and I see a huge reaction when I use it. Once I even had a man blurt out that he loved me when he was shaking my hand (I know that sounds weird, but he did). I called Terry on Saturday to tell him about you guys and he was delighted and he lives in LA and is going to check you out.

Anyway, I thought you would be interested in that little story. I think what you are doing is wonderful and so needed in our crazy, crazy world. You go girl!

Hope you enjoy the pictures. A little slice of fall in the foothills on a Saturday afternoon for you!

Right after I ran into the hello love ladies, I ran into the Free Hugs folks and the Puppy Love people.

It was a good day! LOL!

BEST to you Heidi!
Goodbye Love.
Kimba Hackett
10/22/07

Whidbey Island

2007-10-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello love-

the whidbey chapter of the hello love experiment sends our love. We are doing our little part. We love you much and tell everyone hello from us.

I hope that this message finds you well. I will send a copy of our pic to the hello love email so that you all have it. Give us a call if you get a chance. We are logging in often to get updates on the tour, keep up on your blogs we are both really enjoying it.

much love
casey and rhonda
10/18/07

Our HELLO LOVE Friends

2007-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Wonderful notes, photos and blogs are coming in as the Hello Love tour has made its way home.

Sharing w/ all as they come in!

Home Away From Home

2007-10-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

The Whole RV Bunch

Laura the RV Drivin' Rockstar

Be Part of the Experiment!

RV Living

2007-10-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Aedan and his girl

Life in the RV

With Peggy Hemphill in Chicago

ZZZZZZzzz

Benjamin working on footage

Who are you?

2007-10-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

This is what the Rabbi Michael Weisser answered when I asked what love is. Now you can look at this one of two ways, but I think it's both: first that I am love/you are love and second that you can truly know what love is by knowing yourself. There is something so key about knowing yourself in the discussion of love. It is an ongoing process obviously but something that is so important to consistently reckon with.

I am reminded in this moment of the religious philosophy that we should lose ourselves to God. I do not think this means literally sit all day by your bed doing nothing other than studying the Bible. I believe that the self we are asked to lose is the self that is other than. The self that is other than our true form. It's no simple task. Sorting through all this extra buildup we've acquired over the years but I can think of nothing so powerful as to step out into the world without it. Why isn't it simple? I find myself asking again. I think it's because our minds really believe we are this person with all this extra buildup. So much so in fact that often times we don't even know what is buildup and what is natural.

One of the functions of tree bark is to rid the tree of its wastes by absorbing and locking them into its dead cells and resins. A tree is actually completely covered in its own shit. It could let this define it or consume it. It could invest in the latest debarking technologies. It could stand all day wondering about its waste and feeling guilty about being called a tree when, really perhaps, it should have been called a bark.

Yet as far as we know, a tree does none of this. Instead it stands in all its beauty and fragility reaching ever upward to the heavens, while at the same time rooting down, firmly, into the earth. It uses the force of the wind to carry its song and seed. It gives its entire self to the service of others. And, as if this were not enough the tree uses its bark. A part of its bark transports great quantities of nutrients all the way from its leaves to its roots.

I think the tree's got the right idea. I think we have to find a way to use our own shit to transport nutrients to our souls. The trick is, it is necessary to know what you've got there if you are going to put it to good use. So take a good look at your own bark and then use it. You see, the other function of bark I did not mention is that it also protects the tree. But only so much as that little shell can. If the tree used the bark only as protection, it would be in big trouble. Psychologists say that often these things we do have served or protected us at one time or another.

Learn your bark, love your bark, use your bark. Let it be part of you but not define you.

New York and D.C.

2007-10-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

Early in the wee hours

With NYPD Blue

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Hello Loves

Munch!

At The White House

The RV

Separateness

2007-10-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

I'd like to explore this idea of separateness for a moment, if I may. For me, there are entire days that I am overtaken by a great sadness for the little boy I have never met nor heard of somewhere in Africa, in a town where I have never been who I imagine is staring into the eyes of a boy not much older than himself telling him to kill his own mother. I'm sure the psychologists would have something to say about this but I share this with you now because I think the important thing about this sadness is to turn it into a catalyst. To use it as a tool or teacher to drive you forward in the world. To drive you to action. If this boy does not concern you, perhaps there is a boy in your town, or your family, or perhaps this boy is you. We can talk all day about the thought and intention of things and I think this aspect is important but I believe we were given these bodies for more reasons than we could possibly know. They are magic. And magic must have a purpose even if that purpose is only to exist. And existing is such an amazing gift, isn't it?

Connecting and feeling connected to this boy in Africa or, as we drive across farm country in Ohio, to the land and the farmer in his plow, this often is not my difficulty. But to the people in this RV, this is my trick. This is where my challenge lies. How, in the quiet moments when I am all alone in the back do I trust that I am still a third to the twosome that sits up front laughing about something I may never know. Or when, yesterday, as I traversed off to light a candle for Asa Coon, the boy who killed himself in Ohio after injuring 4 others, I found we were lighting three. I liked to imagine one was for Asa and all those who have been labeled evil in our collective history, another for the children who would return, eventually to the school as well as those injured, and the third for all those who have not yet been recognized as Love. For all the boys and girls who harbor the pain and, with no clue how to direct it may one day find an outlet that hurts those around them, that they might see this little light, or even feel it on some level as an acknowledgment of hope. I think it was Stephen Post who wrote that after the atrocities of 9/11 someone asked Mr. Fred Rogers what we should tell the children and he replied, "Tell them to keep their eyes on the helpers." I do not believe lighting a candle, or names etched into a monument or prayer is focusing on the terrible acts of war, or the terrible acts of evil doers, or even death. I believe these little acknowledgments are of the beauty, the hope. And that act is no more or less natural than say a tree which could be said to also be an acknowledgment of the beauty and magic that exists in our world, or a child, or a smile. David Spangler spoke a bit about this in our interview with him. Why this need to transcend this lovely and painful business of the earthly world? How can we question God? And it was the Gospel of Thomas that said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is here on earth."

I am fond of describing the experience of Hello Love using the metaphor of clothing. As we walk through our daily lives we put on all these layers that cover our "bodies" and it is in the moment of hello love that we find all the rest falls off and we stand there naked and connected to the entire world. I practice, in part, so that I might learn to walk through the world always in this way. I find that at a certain emotional closeness my own "clothes" come flying back on. The clothes of doubt and insecurities. Perhaps it has something to do with a belief that I don't have something to offer... Something about self-worth? Something about self-soothing, and being all right inside no matter what is going on outside.

Photos from the Road

2007-10-12T01:43:00.000-07:00

Aedan and Kate on the plane

Rockefeller Center

The Today Show

The HELLO LOVE Ladies in Washington D.C.

Day 6... WHEW!

2007-10-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Well we're definitely ON THE ROAD. None of us have had time to sleep, let alone blog. But tonight I'll try to catch up a bit. We are having a crazy, magical, hilarious time. We cannot believe how much time it takes to handle the logistics. We cannot believe that we packed for cold fall weather and it's like spring. We can't believe how much we rely on Starbucks for happiness. And we can't believe how loud two four-year-olds in a small space can get.

Here's a quick recap to date:

Thursday, October 4th - We left for Seattle via Burbank. Laura and I had Aedan and Kate running wild in the airport while we tried to check eight bags – two of which were incredibly cheap and too heavy so the handles ripped off and we had to pay overweight charges. We were the nightmare travelers everyone shakes their head at. The flight was fine and we arrived in Seattle, drove to Olympia and saw my husband, Andrew, as MacBeth in MacBeth on opening night. He was great...

Friday, October 5th – Ben had Laura, Edie and I talk about Hello Love on camera and then we drove out to Issaquah for our first big interview with David Spangler. We left the kids with Andrew and Laura's mom, Susan. Susan was amazing and had about 300 art projects planned for the kids. They went to the children's museum as well. We met David Spangler who was gracious and wonderful. We were all a little nervous for our first interview, but he was kind and clear and had a great sense of humor. One thing he spoke about that really moved me was that being in a body IS a spiritual experience. We somehow often think that we have to ignore or belittle or deny the importance of the physical. But the physical is a spiritual celebration as well.

That night we had an amazing Hello Love Gathering thanks to our friend, Annie Fitzgerald. She graciously opened her home to us and invited a bunch of amazing people. We got to talk about Hello Love and share stories. We sold t-shirts which is always fun. I love to imagine people wearing the shirts all across the world. :) The group was also so deeply generous and showered us with donations for our travels. Deep thanks to everyone that joined us that night...

Saturday, October 6th - We practiced in the morning in the wonderful Olympia drizzle. We stood near the capital. Not many cars on a Saturday morning. But we had one guy open his car door and practically get out to offer a huge thank you. We left for the airport after much luggage CHAOS. And I think one of the happiest airport moments I can remember was driving up to Alaska Airlines and finding four skycaps waiting to take our twelve pieces of heavy, crazy luggage. I was near euphoric with relief. (There weren't skycaps in Burbank.)

The flight was fine. The kids slept a lot. And I read a wonderful book called Here If You Need Me. I found myself sobbing several times... very moving...

We didn't get in until 11:00 and then had to juggle the crazy luggage up and down escalators and into trains and into shuttles and finally by 1:00 am into the hotel. My sweet mother-in-law, Nancy, was there to greet Kate and me. She played with Kate all the next day while we were in New York...

Sunday, October 7th – Cheryl Cortese, Edie's mom, met us in New York and we started by interviewing her. She spoke about gratitude in a beautiful way and about the goodness in people. And how she has always moved through life acknowledging and greeting that goodness. She has been tremendously successful in her life through building networks of goodwill and love and support, really. A joy to be with her. We all headed down to Battery Park and handed out cards to the people in line to go see the Statue of Liberty. Ben got some good shots before a very nice park ranger gently kicked us out for filming. :) Then, we headed to Ground Zero. I hadn’t been there. So moving to stand quietly with our signs and greet people.

Then, we headed up to Rockefeller Center and met several of my dearest friends who were willing to practice with us. It was wonderful to have tea with them afterwards and interview them about their experience. I was so touched that they were willing to give it a go... so whole-heartedly...

Times Square was great. We stood on the island and had many sweet interactions... And then, finally back to Edie’s mom’s hotel by Central Park.

My high school friends had encouraged us to try the Today Show the next morning. We thought about it and decided to rearrange our plans... Yes, we WOULD wake up at 4:30 to head on in to NY to get in line...

Monday, October 8th – We were all a little silly with no sleep. Turns out Matchbox Twenty was playing for the Today Show so there was a huge crowd. We were all crunched in and spent a lot of time holding up our signs high above the crowd even when no one was holding theirs. Lots of our neighbors asked us about the experiment and really loved it... I do believe there was a flash of us on the show. :) We left after about two hours though as it was getting a little claustrophobic.

We had a great hour or so walking in NY just holding our signs as we went. People responded beautifully. We found a huge LOVE sculpture at 56th and 5th and took some pictures...

Then, well, the rest of that day was RV day. We all headed out to Tappan, NY to pick up the RV and had to wait there for HOURS. They were very nice but we were a bit stranded. We all practiced driving in the parking lot. Finally, we had to zip back to the hotel to check out and get on the road to D.C. We were a half-hour late for our already LATE check out. But they gave us a break.

Again, CHAOS and SWEAT as we packed. But we did manage to get a nice shot of the RV pulling out as the sun was setting...

Laura is a rock star behind the RV wheel. She just boldly jumped in and drives the 32-foot wobbly home with great finesse. Ben, too, has no problem rocking and rolling down the highway. Edie is less happy behind the wheel and would probably be delighted if she didn't have to drive again. I... haven't taken a turn yet... Hmmm. I'll report soon.

We didn't get in until around 11:00 or 12:00. And dragged ourselves to bed.

Tuesday, October 9th – Washington D.C. Slept until 8:00 which felt LATE. We all needed it. Had a film meeting this morning and then two glorious interviews today. Philip Hellmich and Susie Dillon from Search for Common Ground. They were both WONDERFUL. We were so moved and uplifted and grateful. We'd had a rough morning, again, juggling kids and time and logistics... but the interviews made it all worth while. We also had a little time to practice on the Mall by the Capitol.

Tomorrow morning - We're stopping by the White House for a little Hello Love outside the gate.

I know this is mostly a list of what we've been doing.
It's something else entirely to tell you of our inner journey.
Needless to say, it's been a roller coaster – and we've all fallen apart already several times. But we've also all had glorious humming moments...

Love and gratitude to you all.
Hello Love.

"How could you not?"

2007-10-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, so exhausted tonight. David Spangler was such an amazing man to interview while remaining totally accessible. I find myself struggling with the idea that these moments of embodying love are still only those... moments. I remember coming home from a yoga retreat recently completely enveloped in bliss. I was love. I still believe I'm love but the radiance that emanated from me in this state I speak of was undeniable and something somewhere has been lost. There has been a closing on some level inside me and it disappoints me. See, we say this, we say things like "embody love" but I don't really like it. Because it implies being something, taking on some form we are not.

We are love.

So then, for a moment, I was able to live as I truly am. As my true self.

But what I wonder is, why in that soft space between wake and sleep do we rush to put on all these other things? Why do we hurriedly, unabashedly become worriers, rushers, late bill payers, complainers, dirty dish makers, butchers or bakers, or candlestick makers? Why do we hurry to take on pain, fear, anxiety, guilt?

I'm on the plane now to New York. We're over Iowa. The sun is setting gently so that the far away clouds are blushing the slightest pink. We are above the cloud line so that below, and as far as I can see there is a sea of softness, and above, limitless space. For a moment I marvel at the magic of this space and this blanket below me, a blanket of water suspended in the sky like cotton.

I think of Joseph Campbell's suggestion to have a place where you go every morning before you've heard the morning news or read the paper. A place where you go to do exactly what you love, read a magazine or listen to music no one else likes. For some reason I cannot remember what he called this but the idea of it ties into where I am right now above these clouds, writing to you, and to myself. It's soul food. It's beginning, or ending with gratitude, with peace, from a sacred place -- I mean the place we reach inside. This is where I am when I can really drop in and greet you as love. This is where I see you. I think the exterior is only a door, a tool.

So again I wonder, how did we get to this place where we cover ourselves with so many exhausting, needless layers? How did we get to a place where we feel more comfortable feeling fear or anger than love?

Our gathering last night was hosted by a woman named Anne. I had the most beautiful feeling I knew her. Not that she seemed familiar but that I was arriving at the house of an old friend. As she sat there across from me it was as though I had known her forever. I believe this is what the world would feel like if each of us saw love in the other (and ourselves). We talked about how it feels safer when we come from this place of love, when we meet people in this place. As I sat pondering this I began to feel the most incredible feeling of safety even within my own little "family" sphere. I felt so held. My childhood friend, Sarah, had come though we hadn't seen each other in eight years. Rhonda, my friend of 10 years, and my dear friend, Casey, who had planned to but ended up not being able to come. My mother sat at the hotel room with Kate and Aedan tirelessly playing whatever role they might decide she should play in their imaginary worlds. My father, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, in-laws and out-laws... suddenly I saw how much I was supported and loved. I thought about those that don't have this. But I believe it's possible for everyone to feel this way. I wish there was a way to tell every person who doesn't feel supported or seen, I will be this person for you. I am here for you. I believe in you.

I am quick to talk about the simplicity of Hello Love. I truly believe that its profundity lies in its simplicity. And yet I see that the process to get there within myself is as difficult as I let it be. What would fill all this space in my brain that right now is the chatter of fear and worry? If I let all that go what would be left? (This is the space of the unknown where we have to invite trust. A space we reach when acknowledging love whether within ourselves or another. A space that I will have to talk about at another time because it is so important.) What would come to take it's place? These are questions we could ask ourselves. But now I'm making it sound more complicated than it needs to be, more complicated than it is.

In the end one question returns to me again and again when myself or someone I meet hesitates to stand in love, or to greet another with love:

If you know this to be true.

And, if you knew there was even the slightest possibility that with this one little greeting, this moment FULL of potential as well as risk, could change the world -- how could you not seize it, how could you not extend it, how could you not?

Who we are... what we do

2007-09-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

Love, Wisdom and Will

2007-07-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

"The Plan for man has three great goals. The revelation of love; the illumination of the mind; the evocation of the will."

It's quite a quote. And it's from Discipleship in the New Age, Volume One by Alice Bailey. Love, wisdom and the right use of the will. HELLO LOVE, for me, is obviously about the revelation of love, but does not leave out wisdom or will. That is, there is wisdom inherent in being able to hold everyone and everything as love. And it will be necessary to hold strong and be quite fierce (the right use of will) if we are to truly live way of HELLO LOVE.

I'm taken with the idea of REVELATION. Hello Love, in two little words, can reveal the hidden truth. It's hidden because we either choose to mask the love that we each are or because we refuse to see what lies beneath the masks of others. We've all had encounters where we first meet someone and immediately decide we can't stand the person, only to hear his story or learn something about him down the line that allows us to experience him as the love he is. It's a REVELATION to live one's life seeing in a more subtle way. Our personalities are OBVIOUS. And we can choose to like someone or not based on personality quirks. But at a subtler level, we experience the qualities of the soul. And at the level of soul, we are composed of the substance of love. We are LIGHT which is the texture of love. So HELLO LOVE asks us to look for the light inherent in each of us and greet THAT.

On my path, at the moment, I'm learning about flow. I'm learning about anger fueled by love. I'm learning that sometimes things have to get chaotic and messy and uncomfortable to get to the the realization of LOVE. We spend way too much time consistently fighting or disrupting the flow of love that we are. We have to be strong about naming our resistance and confronting it. So much of what we offer or display is defended or reactive. Our every action says, "You don't love me, do you?" "Do you love me?" "Will this make you love me?" We are all asking to be named LOVE. But we spend our lives like three-year-olds throwing tantrums or sulking in the corner or biting or saying NO!!!!!!!

I just keep trying to say HELLO LOVE and mean it. That is, I want it to penetrate to the core blockages that we all hold so dearly. I want two little words to begin to shake loose our ideas that we are NOT love. And I want to be wise and strong enough to address all that emerges when everything that we consider unloveable comes to the surface to be loved.

So I ask you, as always, to join me in the practice of it. HELLO LOVE is a meditation. It's a song. It's a greeting. It's a balm. It's a flashlight shining into dark corners. It's a wake up call. Let's all see if we can silently (or not) greet 3 people today with HELLO LOVE.

And love love love to you all.

Vermont and Prospect - Back at it

2007-06-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Hello Love on the corner of Vermont and Prospect. It was exactly what I needed to get back on track with Hello Love. I’ve been feeling kind of hopeless about the state of the world and the polarization of the world and the polarization inherent in every moment. I’ve been feeling like Hello Love has an insurmountable task ahead.

But today gave me hope. It reminded me that the smallest greeting can affect a change. Edie, Maria and I all went out and while we were all our usual nervous selves as we got underway, immediately people were smiling and waving and greeting us in lovely ways. We settled in immediately and all, almost instantaneously felt buoyed by the love that came back at us.

People were hungry hungry hungry for it and they took it in. It’s the simplest thing to do... greet people with love, with openness, with kindness and such a little of it can go such a long way.

My favorite moment was when a guy walked past us and asked if we were the ones that sell the t-shirts! I thought “This is working...” The word is spreading.

I think we must have waved at over 1,000 people today....and a good 888 of those people waved back and smiled or flashed the peace sign or nodded or said Hello Love back. And I can’t help but think that even the tiniest shift in energy for each person that we interacted with is a huge shift for that little corner or a significant shift for the energy around all those people today. I think it makes a difference.

Maria, Edie and I all felt so happy to have done this today. It was a boost, a reminder... an hour or so filled with potentiality.

The fact that our muscles hurt from holding the signs above our heads or waving is a great reminder that our heart muscle is working as well... working to include... working to extend... working to embrace, to transmute... It’s also a reminder that I am willing to endure the muscle ache if I feel steeped in JOY. And it’s so easy to stand in JOY when an energy of LOVE is being exchanged.

I don’t know how Hello Love will grow...I don’t know what place it’s meant to hold in the grand scheme of things... but I do know that right now, going out and waving each week... showing up... is what I want and need to do. I want to practice standing in the energy of openness and love.

hello love from scratch

2007-03-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

it's hard enough practicing hello love let alone organizing ourselves to formulate the how with the what and when and where of spreading love and heart-felt greetings across this expanse of a city called los angeles. i remember it was about 6 or 7 months ago that we set out certain goals and laid out specific plans to spread a little love. we discussed back and forth about everything from what type of font we should use for the hello love lettering on the t-shirts to what type of presence we wanted to have on the web. we wanted to go to farmer's markets and swap meets, organize events and raise funds for important causes. we even stated on our web site as one of our goals to raise enough funds to rent billboard space for a few days and considered whether we wanted it to say simply, hello love or hello love (yes, you).

sure we haven't achieved everything we set out to do, and we might even be rethinking some of our goals and our means of achieving them. but certain things have remained constant - our individual relationship to the hello love practice keeps evolving and as a result our group keeps transforming.

what do i mean by this? originally i thought hello love was something i was giving to someone. "hey there, hello love. pass it on." and it is partly that. but i began to see how hello love is just as much about giving to myself - exercising the confidence to give freely without any expectation to connect in a certain way with the recipient.

but recently i've found that hello love is also about shifting our energy when we are not about love or when i'm feeling frustrated or angry or uncomfortable about something or someone or a situation. and that shift may not go from anger to compassion. but it releases me from that space that is void of love. and in that hello love moment, in that slight release from anger or any constraining emotion, one might find healing words or insight to turn around a difficult circumstance into opportunity.

our group thought of hello love as a social experiment, but i didn't anticipate that the experiment was really about us, 5 women wanting to bring more love into this world through artful and crafty means, working together within the confines and limitless energy of our uniqueness as well as common interests. i don't think so much about the how, the what, or the when and where (ok, so it creeps in every now and then in a hello love meeting during a decision making process). but i think maybe i'll be focusing more on the why, or maybe even a why not.

It can be this little!

2007-03-06T23:02:00.000-08:00

Today, I was leaving Trader Joe's when I noticed a convertible Corvette parked so boldly next to my dirty station wagon plastered with "Hello Love." As I finished loading my grocery bags into the back, a dapper man approached.

"Hello Love!" he said. "How nice," and he chuckled the sort of chuckle you'd expect a corvette owner to chuckle.

"Thanks," I smiled back and began to climb into my car and drive off.

Then I saw them, the little stash of cards I keep in my door just in case. I was reminded of my mission and the message which meant that even this man (who was somehow intimidating to me because he owned a Corvette) was also LOVE.

I boldly stood and asked, "Would you like to have a card? You could pass it on!"

He readily took the card. He saw the website handwritten on the back and asked what it was, if it was my website. So I gave as brief an explanation as possible about a group of friends out to spread a little love with this experiment to see how it made people feel. He smiled and thanked me and said in half an hour he was taking a Lovely Lady out to lunch. He would give the card to her.

"Perfect," I said, and we said our thank you's and goodbye's and have a nice day's and parted ways.

I saw today -- in a fresh light -- the power of our little experiment. Because really, who experienced the Hello Love, me, or him? I know that because I took a moment to say it to him (first with the help of my car and then silently before I was brave enough to hand him the card), he was able to experience it, and the Lovely Lady he was taking out to lunch was able to, and who knows where it will go from there but already I feel its energy circle back to me in the quiet of early evening.

Perhaps it's selfish, or perhaps it's a perk, but I'm finding that in giving love we almost always get back more than we gave. Not such a bad trade, 'eh? Somebody should tell the blokes on Wall Street about this!

HELLO LOVE is Alive and Well!

2007-03-04T17:28:00.001-08:00

HELLO LOVE(S) out there to everyone who's been supporting us and The Experiment -- and a big shout out to Mary from Arizona kind enough to send us an email to see how we're doing! Made us realize today that we really need to keep this blog up and check in, especially since so much has happened since last we did -- including a pancake poster making party with lots of friends! (PICTURES TO COME :) So we've committed to writing a little bit when we can... and I'm just starting from now and working backwards.

Today we had a Hello Love "retreat" where the five us get together and really spend some time on catching up, where we've been and where we'd like to go all pertaining to Hello Love. Good snacks, good ideas, planning for the next events, but mostly great catching up and reinvigorating the cause.

Which, in a very simple way, according to Edie, is getting people to say "Hello Love"! So simple... and yet absolutely adorable when she put up her waving hand to her face and just WAVED! I can imagine loads of photos with people waving with their Hello Love signs... and spreading the feeling and spreading the word.

I, myself, have had a pretty cathartic month when it comes to opening the heart -- I feel like I've been the most hesitant at all, but really, it's about one's own process, isn't it? I'll blog about that soon, as it's a big music composition week for me this week and I'm really under the gun... in a good way.

But basically -- LOVE isn't just "Ten Minutes Ago I Saw You" from Cinderella or "Do I Love You."

(And yes, I had to post these clips because I LOVE the musical Cinderella.... geez, see how defensive I'm getting about this?! This is not easy! Anyhoo...)

Now I can actually see that there's a yin and yang about that too -- love isn't only good times, but is balanced out by hard work and frustration. And that means Hello Love too -- I don't feel like I have to be so "Pollyanna-ish" anymore... So to close my check-in today and I played this song from the Broadway musical Avenue Q:

The More You Ruv Someone

Enjoy!

HELLO LOVE thoughts at 3 a.m.

2006-12-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

I spent the holidays in Santa Fe with a rather bad cold. One night last week, I woke up at 2 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep until 4 a.m. I read for awhile, but then began to think about Hello Love. Here are a few of the rambling middle of the night thoughts I had:

Hello Love acknowledges the inherent beauty and perfection of each person we meet.

It is a two word manifesto declaring that our very substance is nothing but LOVE...disguised as many other things...but nothing but love.

Hello Love is small enough to creep into the cracks or fissures in our created personalities and hit the well-spring of love -- the pool of vibration that matches our greeting.

Hello Love is huge enough to instantaneously, tangibly LIFT all who give or receive its blessing.

Sit in a space and greet that space with Hello Love. You will feel the space crackle -- releasing, setting free, sending on its way -- all that is not love.

Sit with yourself and do the same. Greet the majestic self and shed the layers that do not honor its essence -- your essence -- of pure love.

And Hello Love to all your resistance. Hello Love to all who temporarily refuse to receive the name of love. Or all who we struggle to see as love. Whatever a person does is a frenzied, letharigic, attacking, crazed dance to be seen. Bad boy, amazing student, good father, criminal -- but what if we just continue to name them LOVE, no matter what the dance.

Hello? Love?
Love! Hello.
Hello Love.

Happy New Year All.

Passing By My Hello Love

2006-12-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

A friend asked me what I did this past weekend. I told her that I stood at a street corner for three hours waving at passersby while holding up a sign that read, HELLO LOVE. She was amused and confused as to why I would do such a thing. I thought about her reaction. I began to wonder too why I would participate in such a thing. A political protest, an anti-war rally or a march for immigrant rights are all understandable causes for going out in public to make a stand and to cause a stir. But who is going to get all excited about receiving a hello love greeting from little me.

And I felt little standing on that street corner a bit bashful and self-conscious wondering what people thought of me. And, at the start, my efforts at hello love didn't generate a whole lot of stir or movement. People in their cars or on foot looked my way as I half-heartedly waved. They contemplated and then passed by my hello love. No wave. No honk. No emotion, no response, no love. No thank you.

Of course I would get a positive reaction here and there (people cannot help but to react to the novelty of it all) but for some reason I would focus on the passersby who didn't wave, who didn't send me a hello love back. I felt like I was at a grocery store standing behind a card table at the end of aisle 3 trying to convince people to sample my food offering. But I was offering up my hello love as though all I had for people to taste was tap water in a Dixie cup with stale bread, instead of a generous wedge of a nutty, tart cheese along with a nice ripe in-season pear.

And I try as the morning wears on to offer up the nutty cheese and sweet pear, and to focus less on how others respond, or not. By the end of our hello love exercise I realize just how far I have moved from my fear of rejection and apprehension to solidarity and connectedness. And every time I do this exercise it takes less and less time for me to bring my cheese and fruit to the table. And as you pass by my hello love, one day, know that I stand at the street corner for three hours on a Sunday morning greeting people to remind myself that I have more to offer than bread and water.

Daring to Stand Alone (even just for 10 minutes)

2006-12-17T12:39:00.000-08:00

Another day out at Franklin and Beachwood! How we love it there. We're going to have to spread the love in some new areas, but it's hard to leave that lovely corner.

This morning, I got there before anyone else. And as it turned out during holiday rush season, everyone else was going to be half an hour late. That left me with a dilemma. Should I unpack the car and stand alone with my sign? Or should I sit in the car and wait. I was oh so tempted to do the latter. But I managed to boot myself out of the car and onto our corner. I set up the t-shirts and then picked up the sign. I walked to the curb and then walked back. I gave myself a pep talk. I took deep breaths. I walked to the curb again.....and then turned around and rearranged the t-shirts. I called my husband for moral support. And then I thought..."This is ridiculous! All this is about is standing in love and sharing it. Why am I being so timid?" It's amazing the dance that can go on in one's head....Even outside the context of Hello Love, we are always second guessing ourselves. Should I smile? Should I offer help? Should I extend? Or should I wait for someone else to do so? Should I try to look put together, reserved or cool? WHY BOTHER??? At least, that's what I began to say to myself this morning. Just get out there, I thought, and hold your sign and breath into your heart and offer a little love this Sunday morning.

So I did. And Ahhhhhhh. People immediately waved. And then moments later, Maria showed up and I had a partner.

This morning was lovely because we had so many people stop by to say, "I was hoping you would be here...I saw you two weeks ago." Or "My boss said you have to go see the Hello Love girls down at the corner" or "We're developing a new website about changing our world though compassion and love and we'd like you to be a part of it!" Hurrah!

I feel much more energized this time out. So far I haven't 'crashed.' I feel the momentum of this and it's lovely. I feel the Hello Love muscle growing stronger...

We're ordering a whole new round of t-shirts thanks to our pal, Indira, who brought us a bunch of samples to choose from.

Madley is going to compose a Hello Love song but would like some lyrics! There's a challenge out there for anyone who might be reading this. :)

Hello Love to you all this sweet Sunday. Happy Holidays.

Filling the cup

2006-12-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

The Hello Love women gathered yesterday for our first 'retreat.' Our meetings -- to this point -- have been short and a bit hectic. We decided a few weeks back that we needed time to settle in and dream big. What a glorious day we had. With delicious snacks a-plenty, we nestled into a big couch and all checked in. What we discovered over the course of a couple of hours was how important it is for us to say 'hello love' to ourselves...to give ourselves a break...to replenish...to fill our cups. We obviously LOVE the idea of extending love, but were also realizing that being open and vulnerable and sensitive enough to RECEIVE it is equally as important.

ON a FUN FUN FUN note, we talked about two really great things. One -- we're planning a Hello Love Poster Coloring PARTY on Valentines Day. Come one, come all and then return to your neighborhood with Hello Love Posters galore. Two -- we made a joke at one point about the fact that soon we'll need a 'Hello Love' bus to travel around the country. But soon our joke became a "why not?" And we're thinking (still with a little smile on our faces) HELLO LOVE SUMMER TOUR 2007. :) Watch out. We're checking into renting RV's. :)

Meanwhile, we're all still practicing and feeling great about it. One of our members gave a talk today -- a persuasive speech -- to her class all about Hello Love...and everyone loved it. Most importantly, we all affirmed that it's all about baby steps... Each day we greet ourselves with Hello Love and a few of the people we see each day. We want it to slowly but surely become a way of life.

Expansion and Contraction on a Sunday...

2006-11-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

It was another really amazing morning with the Hello Love gang. We were back at Beachwood and Franklin from 9 am until noon. We had our t-shirts hung on the fence and four of us out there with signs waving and greeting the drivers and a few pedestrians as they passed. The response is really just incredible. People are so receptive and delighted. And every honk and smile makes every minute worth it. Of course there are the obligatory wavers and the non-smilers and the puzzled looks. But the honks and peace signs and astonished but happy faces far out weigh all of those.

We were asked a lot more today what we are...what we're about. My response was something like, "We're a group a friends who want to spread a little love. We're asking people to experiment with greeting people silently or not with 'hello love.' People coudn't believe we weren't promoting something or selling something (except t-shirts to spread the word) or a part of a religious movement. Everyone seemed somehow relieved, like, 'oh, we can just relax and enjoy this exchange.'

Anyway, I was feeling so EXPANSIVE and full and happy at the end of our time. My husband and 3 yr old daughter met me and we all drove home. But here's the fascinating and tricky part. I've been totally exhausted since. And when I checked in with the other Hello Love women after last time, everyone reported a similar feeling. We were all high and full and charged and then we all collapsed. And not only that, in the last few hours, I've really felt myself as constricted and not at all 'hello love.' More like 'hello leave me alone.' Of course this at first makes me feel like a failure or a fraud, but then I get to thinking that this is how we exercise our heart. I think that's what we're doing out there.

When I'm standing out there near the street waving at drivers-by, I'm staying as connected with the flow of the heart's energy as I can. I'm breathing in the present moment and then shining out from the heart. It feels like a tangible energy that is rushing over and out from my heart. I can tell when I'm connected and when I'm not. I see it in people's faces. I can tell when it's real. And I think it takes a tremendous amount of energy and effort to keep the heart open and full and flowing. Each time we all practice this for these three hour meetings, we're getting a little stronger. But I also think it's normal -- at this growing stage -- to contract a bit afterwards. I myself am experiencing fatigue and grumpiness. :) But I'm also smiling at myself in the thick of it. I'm thinking, "Isn't this fascinating." That might not be what my husband is thinking... but he is patient and kind and really gets what we're doing even if I collapse afterwards.

So, I'm writing now to capture this journey of total exhilaration in sharing this message and likewise the rebound contraction. It just reminds me how this really IS a PRACTICE. And we all can get better and stronger and more steady in the offerings of our hearts....

Hello love!

Selling T-shirts and spreading the love...

2006-11-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

What a great morning! We set up at Franklin and Beachwood with about 100 t-shirts. We hung some of them on a chain link fence and hung our HELLO LOVE signs all around that corner. At first, I'll admit, I was shy. I picked up a sign and started tentatively to wave at passers-by. I felt a little awkward. I didn't feel brave.

But then I stopped to remind myself what all this was about...and it's about offering love to everyone and anyone. And I thought...I can do that. I can just stand here and smile and wave and open my heart and offer a little love. I grew increasingly courageous.

Three hours flew by. Soooo many people honked. So many people waved. Many stopped and bought a t-shirt. One woman told us about a cool art project she was working on highlighting groups of women who gather together to create something lovely. We were that. She took our picture with the t-shirts. Many talked to us from their car window thanking us for what we were doing. The sun was BEATING down, but we were all so full, so happy, so alive with offering a little unexpected love to those who happened to be driving down Franklin or Beechwood this morning.

Something about this is absolutely right. It feels GOOD to say it, to share it...to offer it. Hello Love. Hello love. Yes you!

Just One...Begin Here

2006-10-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello love. Yes, you! You there, across the street on this brisk morning in Los Angeles. The sun is just high enough that the sky still looks faintly naive and the air still feels fresh. "Good morning" I shout to you. You look over, unsure, scared, a little confused perhaps. You assess, I do not look like I am disturbed, I am holding a sign. I have friends near me. I am a safe distance away.

I am smiling and waving at you.

You there, across the street.

You felt it then, our borderless skins.

You shout, "I love you too." Then you put your head down again and walk a bit faster. I wonder if perhaps you felt it was silly? I want you to know it was beautiful.

I want you to know that this is the world we want to create. In this moment you helped create it.
It was experiences like this that fed me Saturday morning, the first opening of the hello love gates. It was finding a man smoking a cigarette and reading the dictionary on a motorcycle at 7:00 on a Saturday morning. It was the old woman who walked with me down the road telling me a story about a man who gives her a sandwich every time he sees her. So she is sure not to forget her teeth.

It was the man with the black wig and the white lip liner who told me his story and said of our project, "If the whole world was like this... wouldn't that be nice." It was the homeless man sleeping beneath the freeway who would wake to see one of our signs. It was every honk, every wave, every smile, no matter how hesitant or eager. This is what the hello love experiment gave to me, and I hope, perhaps, gave to each of them.

Now I won't suggest you run right our there and stand on a street corner waving at people right this second (you can do that later if you want). But I would reccommend picking one person today, try to meet their eyes, and silently greet them with hello love. I'm reminded, as I say this of a potato chip ad from a few years ago, something like, "betcha can't eat just one." I bet you can't stop at one. But begin here.

Go on now, you can do it, just one.... hello love

Momentum...

2006-10-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

I just put a "Hello Love" sign on the front door of our house. Why not welcome LOVE in whenever possible?

I'm more and more excited about where this little experiment could go. After our Saturday adventure in Hollywood and the positive feedback, we're all feeling energized to get the word out more and get more people practicing this. Edie and I decided that it would be great to take a walk once a week during which we're focused -- not on our own STUFF -- but on extending the hello love energy to whomever we pass. It's a service. It's fulfilling.

I love the grass-rootsy feel of this. I love the idea of a little phrase making a big difference. It's playful, but powerful. In the spirit of the grass-roots feel, I welcome any suggestions or ideas (big or little) about how we might continue to build on this idea.

T-shirts are just around the corner...and I'll be wearing mine a LOT. A download-able, color-in-your-own HELLO LOVE sign will soon be on the site. We want people to send in pictures of themselves holding the sign. We want the word, the idea to spread globally!!

Just start talking about the idea with your friends. It's all about word of mouth...

Write in and share your experiences...We'd love to hear...

And HELLO LOVE to all you reading this. Hello love. Yes you.
xo

Hello Love. Hello Love? Hello Love!

2006-10-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today I took the opportunity to love on strangers. I didn’t physically love "on" them. I didn't touch them. I mostly didn't even talk to them. But I looked at them, in a soft-hearted kind of way, each person that passed me on the street. As I set out with Heidi, Madley, Laura, and Maria on our first day out with the Hello Love Experiment, I pretended that I had amazing secret super-powers, and that I could mentally send a force field of pure love to each person, psychically! I held the idea that this force in me was powerful in a universe-creating, big bang, atomic nuclear reaction, kind of way, huge and almighty, and that if I focused really intently, they would receive it. Even if they still looked grumpy or tired or worn down by the world, with each stranger that walked past, I held the idea that on some level they got this beam of love. I flashed in my mind thoughts of them living the happiest, highest idea of themselves. I imagined them prosperous in all ways and their eyes filled with creative excitement for life. I imagined them fulfilled and lovingly connected to the people in their lives.

I did this with my friends.

How nice to have friends that wanted to go out and try this.

Yes, we also put up signs that said, Hello Love. We handed out business cards at the corner of Sunset and Argyle--the business of sending love. Sometimes, we had to explain ourselves.

"No, we are not with a religion, or any organization. We are just a group of friends. We are not raising money for any cause, there is no other reason than this moment, to stand here and send you love--because it feels good."

I have to admit, we were all nervous at first, none of us are the type that do this kind of thing... talk to strangers; none of us are outgoing look-at-me kind of people. So we had to rally ourselves. After all, this could be seen as ridiculous... and on some level it's illegal; posting signs in public areas. So there was the possibility of scandal! Worse than that, someone might make fun of us, might say, "That’s stupid." So there was also the possibility of being scoffed at. Sounds silly, but being scoffed at in public is very daunting.

But even more than those reasons, I think it just makes one nervous to blindly offer love. It goes against the social training of life: self protection, guarding against people that want to take advantage of your good nature, which could be anyone--especially strangers; it's just not safe. And besides that, what's the pay-off, what is the profit to be gained?

Which brings me to the surprising discovery of this morning for me: Which was A.) how I felt safer in the world with each passing person that I beamed love to. And B.) how satisfying it felt to walk around beaming love, how much better I felt inside myself. People pay good money for that--feeling good. And here it is, free.

It's a lovely thing to try, to ask yourself is this ridiculous or revolutionary, this Hello Love thing, and then just walk out on the street and test it.

Too pooped to pop!

2006-10-14T01:44:00.000-07:00

I had an exhausting week, but it's Hello Love Eve and I'm happy. (And I'll let Heidi tell you why we picked this October 13th to begin :)

Tomorrow morning -- or four hours from now -- Heidi'll call "Rain Delay" or not for our Hello Love Experiment launch in Hollywood. We were at her house tonight to gear up with posters, placards and business cards, and the energy was incredible (pictures coming), creativity abundant, and Andrew and Maria's fine work at the grill delicious! Hopefully Mother Nature is on our side... she usually doesn't rain in southern California.

I'm glad I woke up from sleeping on the couch... forgot to put a stat counter on the website and blog, our only way to measure our impact/curiosity... now that it's up, it's goodnight, love...

It could be like this

2006-10-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

We all got this this note today:

See....it could be like this...,
Love, love

Heidi Rose

My email back:

OMG <--- Oh My God

... this is incredible! Initially I thought ICK! that guy is dirty and probably smells... but after the first few hugs... I was sold and wept.

More power to us! :)

Enjoy.

A Rough Start

2006-10-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

When the five us met last week to plan for the hello love launch, Heidi gave us a chance to really focus on what the heck we were doing OTHER than all the logistical things: like doing a website, making t-shirts, cutting business cards, building placards. We're all smart women of the millenium, we knew how to do all that.

But did we really know what the purpose of hello love was? Why were we specifically involved? Did we know what it meant personally in our own lives before we worried about how we affected others? ARE WE READY TO DO THIS?

Well, I'll give it to that Heidi, she can sniff out "a need" in a second, so she brought us together for a short centering. Her backyard on a rare fresh Los Angeles morning was the perfect place to gather in meditation (An aside: I used to hate the word meditation because it brings up a lot of high fallutin' spiritual nonsense to me, so I keep it simple: Close eyes, be quiet; I pray=I talk; I meditate=God talks back. :)

Ten clarifying minutes later and I knew I wasn't ready to do this "thing" called hello love. Hell, I couldn't say it without either (1) pretending I was a Brit (the Queen's English or a cockney spitfire, sometimes a combination of both); or (2) rolling my eyeballs and dripping with sarcasm at how CORNY it all was. I deserved to be fired.

As we went around the group, what Heidi spoke about and honored was our own individual process in this thing called "hello love." Me? I didn't think I could go out there meeting people when the words won't come off of my lips "properly" -- good grief this was going to be embarrassing and boy, do I feel like frickin' FRAUD.

But that was going to be okay. I tried to look further down the road at the possibilites -- how simply we could really change our lives (and others' lives) down the road. Come on, I told myself... did you not just share with your friends that in a supermarket in Sacramento you told yourself you'd say a mental "hello love" to all the people shopping alone? Did you not have fun? Did you not get a lovely smile or greeting back from 90% of the people you tried to connect with? And most of all -- did you not feel your life was BETTER in those few minutes?

Today I was so grateful that my computer could get fixed under warranty (read: FREE) that I was ready to maul the Geek Squad clerk over the counter with hugs, kisses and pinches on the cheek -- but Greg the Geek was having NONE of it. I wanted so badly for him to know how good a job he did with me, that he deserved to get promoted to CEO that day, pronto! But barring an arrest, I decided to mentally wish him "hello love." HELLO LOVE. H-E-L-L-O?

Nary a smirk out of this 22-year-old -- he was like a "grampa" who'd just seen too much fal-der-a to care about anything anymore! Greg wasn't present to receive my wishes, so young but preoccupied with... who knows, girls? Death? Tight undies? I don't know. But just then I realized it wasn't about his receiving it... it was about me embodying hello love and trying it out.

I changed a few molecules in the world with love right there at Best Buy... and whether or not my Geek friend got it or not wasn't up to me. I knew my work had just begun.

Big Thinking

2006-10-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking big tonight. This weekend has been a powerful one for me in the ways of Love. I began Friday with a "hello love" meeting and meditation, which proved more empowering and clarifying than I could have imagined. I can feel it. I feel the message, the action, the result, all as one; warm and thick, coursing through me so that I am at once excited and exhausted.

The meeting ran late and I rushed over to my son's preschool, hoping I would not be late. Wondering all the time why it mattered so. Breathe, I told myself, breathe. From here I was supposed to meet another friend. The plan was to drive until Aedan feel asleep and then the two of us mamas would have some chat time before the boys woke up. I didn't want to go. It made me nervous -- I'm a homebody at heart, and all this socializing was making me a little uneasy. But I went, because when she had called to invite me days before it felt so comforting and I trusted this initial impulse.

I asked her advice as an extroverted homemaker and she replied with some matter of fact answers. She also brought up God.

I would tell you at first breath that I am not a religious person. I would tell you that I am NOT against organized religion, but it is not for me. I would tell you that from what I know, Jesus was an amazing man but no more the son of God than you or me. I would tell you that God’s power is no more or less real than Mother Earth's. I will tell you all this, but I have not yet had the chance to tell my friend. However, the amazing thing is, I did not need to. She told me of a book she was reading with a book group through her church. The book spoke about the love of God. The book says that God sees you without judgment. That he sees you in your entirety and loves you right off the bat, and no matter what, for all eternity. Suddenly in this moment, sitting at her kitchen table, I dropped all my guards. I took a great deep breath in, nodded, and said in a voice that came from my belly, “Yes.”

All of these things we do as devout (or not) followers of our religions, are done to bring us closer to our God. But what is any God if not Love? What is more powerful than embodying that Love? In that moment of looking a stranger in the eye and loving them, right off the bat, and no matter what, I, you, we, are close to God. I dare say, we are one with God. This is the reason we are here. To learn the power of Love. To feel the power of Love. To use the power of Love.

In the beginning...

2006-10-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you about my “Hello, love” experiment. These days, when I greet my daughter or my husband, I often say, “Hello, love.” Sometimes I greet my dear friends this way too. It feels natural and wonderful to say.

Then while sitting in Starbucks the other morning – my office away from home – it occurred to me that I could do an experiment. I began to wonder how I could expand the love circle. Naming something is a powerful thing. If I call you LOVE and mean it, it resonates for both of us.

Now, don’t worry… I’m not going to suggest that you greet everyone you meet with “Hello, love.” I’m only going to suggest that you THINK it. It’s actually pretty remarkable.

I started doing this as I watched people come and go through the Starbucks door and then, too, when I headed home. I silently greeted my fellow walkers with “Hello, love.” And I couldn’t stop smiling.

There is something so delicious about this.

It takes the critical mind or the fear based mind or the separative mind right out of commission. And instead, I found myself immediately seeing what was MOST LIGHT in each of the people I greeted, what was most REALIZED LOVE. And I felt full of appreciation.

Also, I felt like I had some fabulous secret… like I could be a Johnny Appleseed of Love on a quiet morning walk.

Of course, one can’t help but see the grumpy, broken, blocked parts too. But with the “Hello, love” experiment, they are secondary. At least for a split second, they are secondary.

And if we add together all our split seconds of love, we begin to change our world.

Try it. See what you think. Report back! Practice. Try it today.