From a recent journal entry:

What work habits, what discipline, would allow me to best pour love into this work? 

If I can do that, everything else will fall into place.

. . .

It is easy to say, “I do a work of love,” or “This is a work of love,” The reality though is there a lot involved. In some ways, it is like being a professional or Olympic athlete. You need to constantly up your game.

First, I would say, is mental attitude. To do a work of love you need to nurture love inside yourself. It is like tending a garden. What you sow you ultimately harvest. And you need to weed that garden. Weeds are constantly sprouting their little heads up. I need to be constantly vigilant that I don’t let negative thoughts intrude. Many times a day they sneak into my psyche, but I need to keep weeding. 

You need to live in such a way that your internal love generating machine is well-oiled and fueled. That’s everything from diet, exercise, sleep habits to downtime, fallow time. You can’t overwork and do a work of love. Well, you can but you can’t maximize its ability to add to the lives of others. Work of love is about quality, not quantity. Except that you need to produce a lot of quantity to produce anything worthwhile.

If you are like me, you need to be careful who you let into your life. I imagine some people generate so much internal love that they can tolerate and maybe even inspire the rude, the arrogant, the loud, the selfish, the unhappy. Not me. I need to avoid them. They bring me down and affect the work. I need kindred spirits in my life. Quiet, thoughtful, loving people who serve others, who value being a force for good in the world.

You need, I think, an element of beauty in your life. Music, nature, art –- something that opens your heart and reminds you of how wonderful and magical it is to be alive.

You need to master the skills associated with your chosen work. You need to practice. You need to study the work of the masters, both contemporary and those that have gone before.

More than anything else, to do a work of love, you need to love yourself. You need to be constantly checking in. “Am I taking care of myself?”, “Am I treating myself and my time with respect and care? Am I gentle with myself?”, “Am I avoiding what I need to avoid in order to focus?”

Much of this boils down to self-discipline. Discipline to avoid distractions, disciple to put time and thought into a work, but also discipline to take time off. To set the work aside so that it can percolate, rumble around inside you until it is ready to manifest. 

. . .

Below, the two-page spread of this entry from the upcoming Heron Dance book on living and working as a creative outsider, Sing Us The Song Only You Can Sing.
Click here or on image to download PDF.
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