What is love?
Love. What is love?
For some, love might mean marrying your best friend. It might be treating yourself to a coffee, getting that dream job, travelling the world, or meeting your favourite family members lol.
It could be all of those things, after all, love isn’t tied to one subject or being, it is universal. And if you look closely enough, you’ll find that love is in fact the one thing we all share in common.
We all want love. We all want to love and to be loved in return. Why? Because the human heart is conditioned to feel. To feel seen, to feel enough — to feel alive!
We live in a world that often encourages us not to feel. To block it off with a swipe to the right, a dumbbell, or a yummy box of chocolates whilst we binge watch Jude Law. Let’s be honest, we’ve all done it.
The world tells us that love is weak, and boy are they wrong.
Love is not weak, it is the most valuable thing that you own.
Don’t get me wrong, I use to believe romance and love was cheesy, that it only ever resulted in heartbreak. Or that in order to feel love, I had to earn it. Earn my heart by pouring it into things that are temporary. Such as school, getting the best grades, being the best actor, doing the most work or getting the best body.
That is exactly what the world has conditioned us to believe. That our worth, that our love is tied to the world —
It is not, it is tied to us.
By the time education came to an end, and I followed my intuition to Brazil. I thought my life was going to change. I went with all these big expectations, none of which came true, and I felt incredibly out of place because for the first time in my life — I wasn’t in control.
I didn’t have a plan. I was exhausted, tired and came to the painful realisation that my heart was truly broken. I didn’t know who I really was or what my next steps were because I had been conditioned into being something that I am not - a follower.
This year has been the hardest year of my life. Coming back from Brazil, I knew I needed to get myself together and figure out what I truly wanted. And it wasn’t easy. I’ve spent this year working in a night club, battling with different story ideas, researching weddings. And then I encountered the most unexpected connection with someone.
I know what you’re thinking, and no, it wasn’t romantic. It was simply a fleeting moment in time that shut off all that noise. That returned me back to being present. I wasn’t performing or trying to achieve, I was simply talking. Simply listening. Simply being present not only with him, but with myself. And when that connection didn’t last, it broke me because for the first time in so long, I realised that the only thing my heart truly wanted me to be — was present.
I had found my heart again.
I’m telling you all of this because my journey back to myself is a breathing example of what you can have when you put your heart first. You can have presence, you can find beauty and love. Why? Because love isn’t earned, it is not perfect, it is present.
That truth is in you!
All you have to to do to get that, is to feel. Give up control. Surrender, listen to your gut! Life is a journey of the unexpected moments that teach us something about ourselves, that should help us grow into our values, into our worth, our love for each other and ourselves.
Sure, you can find a deep meaningful love for someone, but that love is only as strong as the love you have for yourself. And I want Golden Heart Stories to be a reflection of that. A reflection of this beautiful and painful journey we go through. A journey of intimate truths that bring us back to who we are. That say “It’s ok to love, it’s ok to feel. I see you, and that is enough.”
You are enough.
(Jude thinks so. I mean look at that smile)
Love,
Macie Chandler x