Love is Stepping Out

I wish to tackle the tricky subject of love today. Not romantic love, but real love. The reason being that it is in my thoughts as I have just returned from a trip to my birth town of Shoreham-By-Sea where the recent plane crash happened, just a few weeks ago. A freak accident caused a plane to fall from the sky as the pilot was exhibiting a manoeuvre and it tragically killed 11 people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My heart goes out to the families of these people, but I do not wish to focus on the tragedy , but instead on the amount of love that the community poured out in expressions of sympathy, compassion, togetherness and solidarity.

The strength of this love is undeniable as you walk across the now aptly named ‘Bridge of Flowers’. The community has found an outlet for this love in the form of hundreds of bouquets of flowers, notes, gifts, poems, cards and expressions of support. It is truly moving to see so many gestures of love in one place. Far from devastating a community, this accident is pulling it together. A moment that could have caused chaos is bringing unity.

And the plight of the Syrian refugees I am sure is in everyone’s minds at the moment because it is so prominent in the news. How the world has responded in a positive way, opened up their arms, their homes and their hearts to these people who are in desperate need. For so long we, as a planet, have been controlled by fear, but this is changing. It is really happening!! People are finding a voice are shaking off the shackles of constraint and suppression and love is stepping out. More and more people are waking up and questioning everything. No longer happy to be controlled, everything is being questioned – things that we used to take for granted, and it is up to us as individuals to continue this movement. Each and every one of us can make a difference.

‘The 100th Monkey Story’ comes to mind. In the 1950s scientists were observing the behaviour of monkeys isolated on an island. The monkeys were being provided with sweet potatoes that were dropped on the sand but they didn’t like the taste of the dirt. An 18 month old monkey started to wash her potato in the stream, she taught this to her mother, her playmates copied her and taught it to their parents too. Only the adults who had been taught directly by the young ones were washing their sweet potatoes, whilst the older monkeys were still eating their dirty ones..Until one morning the 100th monkey started to wash his potato in the stream. By the evening the whole island was doing it. Social change had happened.

The moral if the story? There is hope. One person can and is making a difference. I am studying a book called ‘The Way of Agape’ by Chuck and Nancy Missler and it is transforming my life. They write that the more we allow God’s love to flow through us, the more He can flow his power through us into others. I have learned so much. Since when does love have to be about getting and not giving? Since when does love have to be selfish? Human love sets limits and conditions. God’s love doesn’t. Try it – practice it – it will change your life.

Once again you may ask, ‘what has this got to do with painting?’ Everything. I am that vessel who has made it my mission to be as clean, as free flowing as possible. What you are seeing on my canvases is coming from source. If you like what you see, please buy :).

Sending you all the love in the world.

Lisa Weller xx

 

 

 

 

Inspiring Art from the Heart of the Highlands