Using Love in your Work

I often mention how important it is to find where the love is in a scene. Without love, a scene lacks fuel to power it along. In America, we often confuse love with attraction or infatuation. The truth is love needs no object to attach itself to. Love is a state of being. It is a force. It is tender and gentle. Passion has suffering inherent, and is not to be worked with.

Michelangelo often worked for the church, because the Church was the only institution at the time that could afford the stone that he wanted to work with. It is said that he needed to love the stone, in order to free it of what was extraneous to the sculpture that lay within.

There is a fable of a very powerful king that owned a beautiful vase. One day, the vase broke. He searched for the most famous potter in the land to repair the shards. When it was returned to him, it wasn’t to his liking and he had the potter slain. Other potters tried and met the same fate. Finally a monk who had a reputation for working in clay was brought to the court and given the shards. He retired to his cave for a long period of time and came out with the beautiful vase for the king. The king rewarded him handsomely. When his assistant was cleaning the cave, he came upon the shards in a corner. The assistant said to the Monk, “How did you create the famous vase without the shards?”. The monk said, “Anytime you work on something from a loving heart, you are sure to create great beauty.”

Sit quietly and surround yourself with images that invoke love. Use anything that is unconditional: a pet, a sunset, a grandparent, etc. When you feel the tender, vulnerable love that ensues – place it into your career. Send the love to your work, to your career, to your representation. When you work from love, rather than the need for money, fame or attention – you gather the forces of magic available in the universe.