LETTERS FROM LOVE — With Special Guest Amy Purdy!

"It will roll in ecstasy at your feet"

Dear Lovelets,

Heads up, beginners!

Hello there, new subscribers!

A big friendly wave to all of you who have been “sitting poolside” for the last few years, watching Letters From Love unfurl without writing or sharing one yourself (which is totally cool! you never have to! who are we, your boss?) — and to those of you who have newly discovered us through the Substack ecosystem, social media, or word of mouth: hello!

This is a back-to-basics edition, especially crafted for any of you who don’t exactly know what we are up to over here, or who have been wanting to maybe try this practice but don’t know where to start, or who have written a letter from love to yourself, but maybe don’t quite know how to share it with us — or maybe have been feeling shy, and need some encouragement.

Here is your encouragement! Here is your love and welcome!

Our special guest this week is the very-special-indeed Amy Purdy, who I became friends with many years ago, and who never stops inspiring me. And in the introduction to her letter, she shares how scary and strange and disorienting it felt for her to write a letter from the Spirit of Unconditional Love (what we call SOUL around here). And this from a woman who danced competitively on live TV — and won Olympic medals — with two prosthetic legs.

I will never stop being fascinated by why this practice feels so frightening, awkward, and unfamiliar to so many of us, when what it offers is what our hearts most dearly want — to be unconditionally loved, from a source that will never leave us, never judge us, never harm us. Why is that so scary? Because it is so NEW — from minds (our own minds) that constantly tell us we are doing every single thing wrong.

Please take inspiration from Amy’s letter, and her words about what this practice felt like to her, and see if you can find the courage to dare to be loved a little by your very own self, through words that come filtering through your mind like sunlight through a canopy of leaves.

And those of you who are old-timers, if you have any encouragement this week for the newcomers, please share. You hold great wisdom in your experience, and it deserves to be disseminated freely amongst us all!

Let’s keep going!

Love,
Your Lizzy

Dear Love, what would you have me know today?

Angelpop, little molecule, dust mote of starlight, tiny miracle — it’s been a minute since we got to tell you that we don’t need you to improve in any manner whatsoever.

I know! I know it’s shocking! We love you exactly the way you are, precisely this way. Aging, a little weary this week, a little restless but with not a lot of energy to do anything, a little sad about the state of everything — and irritated with yourself this afternoon for not being able to force yourself to be in higher spirits.

What if we told you that this is just right? Perfect concoction. Don’t change a thing. Hold it right there. In this exact moment. Let us behold you. Let us behold you.

The other day you saw a photo of yourself, and you haven’t been wearing bras lately because you simply can’t anymore deal, and you’ve switched over to tank tops that are comfortable but don’t really do much in terms of support but at least keep it PG, and hey it’s not like you’re running a marathon or anything — but anyhow, in this photo, you noticed that your boobs are basically below your bottom ribs at this point, and you kind of flinched in pain at noticing this, and then you had this thought: “Well, that must be where they want to live now.”

Exactly! We rejoiced when we felt you say that — and rejoiced further when we saw that the realization brought you joy. My boobs are where they are because that is where they want to be. Yes, dear.

And the lines on your face are where they are because that is where they want to be.

What if everything is where it wants to be? What if everything is WHAT it wants to be? Not just where it HAS to be, but where it WANTS to be.

Remember when your friend Martha Beck taught you that magic is nothing more than “the thing that wants to happen next”? Can you look around at the world, at yourself, at everything and everyone, and maybe consider the idea that all of this is what wants to happen next?

Can you imagine not needing to understand or fix any of it, any more than you will try to fix your boobs? (I know there are ways to get those knockers moved up to a new zip code, but is that really how you want to spend your life, your money? Resisting that which wants to happen next? Resisting that which IS happening?)

We want you to know something: love does not look at anything and need it to be changed. How in the world would that be love? “I love you, now go be totally different”? Who even says that? (I mean, of course, YOU have said that to many, many people that you have purported to love, but was that love?)

Love has no need to interfere. Love looks at everything, everything, everything, and marvels, saying: “Well, this is simply incredible to behold.” Because it is.

Objectively, inarguably, everything, everything, everything is simply incredible to behold — and that includes you.

We ask you to surrender. We do so not because we want to see you defeated and beat down, but because we want you to re-enter into the field of love — and you can’t come in fighting anything or anyone, you really can’t. Even fighting in the name of love does not bring more love; it brings more fighting.

You are afraid that surrendering to That Which Is will make you passive, limp, useless, purposeless, lazy, bored and boring. But have you tried it, baby girl? Have you really and sincerely tried it? Not giving up in defeat, but surrendering into the extraordinary moment that is, and regarding it with utter, abject wonder?

You have a quote right there on the wall, right next to your bookcase, from Kafka, who said, “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you, to be unmasked; it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”

IT HAS NO CHOICE!

You love this quote so much that you illustrated it, framed it, carried it with you to every home you have ever lived in, and always make sure it is on display in your office where you write. But honey, have you tried it? Have you really tried it?

Do you know the subsets of humans who do not leave their rooms, who stay solitary, who do nothing, who don’t even listen? The severely depressed — or the most sincerely spiritual people in the world, the seekers of the most profound and lasting truths.

Ask yourself, my love, “What would surrender look like in this moment? What would letting go look like in this moment? What would not changing anything look like in this moment?”

If you look very closely, you will see that it looks like love.

Be a YES to all that is, sweetheart. It’s going to be what it is anyhow, but what if you could love it? Yourself included. Your beautiful, restless, perfect, no-need-to-be-transformed self included.

Let the world freely offer itself to you. It has no choice.

I love you. Let’s keep going.

Prompt

Each week, we suggest writing a letter that’s focused on a particular theme, usually one that is inspired by our guest’s letter. And we remind you that if that topic doesn’t work for you, you can always use the classic prompt that I’ve been using for many years (and which never fails me!) — Dear Love, what would you have me know today?

This week, we’re reversing course and suggesting that you check in with yourself by posing the original question. And if that doesn’t feel right, go ahead and get specific in your question. This prompt and practice are infinitely customizable. Can’t wait to read your letters in the comments!