IGNITE YOUR LIFE “Connect with Love.” by Sarah Gish
“L
ove is the only way I connect,” Houston-based energy healer Ellen Reynolds told me recently – and she should know. She’s been healing people for a long time and it’s the force of love that leads the way for her. People heal when they are listened to, when hearts connect, when they are loved. “Connect with love.” is the sixth way to ignite your life in my “IGNITE YOUR LIFE!” art project and community campaign (www.IgniteYourOwnLife. com) and the word associated with this concept is “LOVE.” It’s a seemingly simple statement – but it’s deeper than it first appears. As we go about our days, we connect with people: the cashier at the grocery store, the guy on the elevator, our office mates, our families,
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and more. But HOW do we connect with them? Do we robotically say hi and move on? Or do we slow down and really, truly connect? When I first started my IGNITE YOUR LIFE! project back in 2013, I made a commitment to exchange names with everyone I met and to ask them how they were. I wanted to practice what the director of my childhood summer camp – Miss Dollie – told all of us: if you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours. A smile is the gateway drug to love. But why does it help to connect with love? When we are feeling love, the neurotransmitter oxytocin is released and a sense of calmness and peace flows throughout our bodies. Scientists have discovered that this magical chemical heals our pain, gives us more
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energy, lessens our fears, and helps us to stay healthy. About a year ago, I started giving heart hugs: hugging left shoulder to left shoulder so that hearts (which are slightly on the left side of your body) literally touch. I swear there’s a spark between us! And I always leave a heart hug feeling calmer and more connected than I do with a regular hug. That oxytocin is good stuff. Here’s a final thought for you: our country is divided and in turmoil in so many ways. How can we possibly heal what’s been happening? Live with love! Approach every situation with a kind heart. Take time to connect and listen. Think to yourself “Love is here.” everywhere you go. As Andy Andrews writes in The Butterfly Effect, “Every single thing you do matters.” The smiles you share and the connections you make will change your world and inspire a ripple effect all around you. “Connect with love.” is one of my twelve ways to ignite your life daily – ways that, if followed, will stave off addiction, depression, anxiety, and isolation. Being ignited for your life does that! Sarah Gish is an igniter, a connector, an artist, a mother – and much more! See her work at www.GishCreative.com and contact her at sarah@gishcreative. com and 713.492.1173. She produces a weekly blog highlighting unique cultural activities for adults and kids in Houston, which is at www.GishPicks. com. Her IGNITE YOUR LIFE! art project is at www.IgniteYourOwnLife.com; the complete list of her “12 Ways to Ignite Your Life Daily” can be accessed there. Sarah also does private intuitive guidance sessions on Mondays at Body Mind & Soul; to schedule one, please call the store at 713.993.0550. See ad, page 21.