I reveled in a bliss-filled meditation this morning, which isn’t always the case. Some days, I struggle to let go of a busy mind in order to be present in the moment. I’m glad that with my New Year’s resolve to be more disciplined with a daily meditation practice, my pathway into stillness and divine presence has become a bit easier.

Sometimes, like this morning, I am in sore need to have my cup refilled. Intense focus on print deadlines and other pressing priorities pulling me every which way have left me feeling off balance. I’m also missing my mom, who recently passed, and feel a lonely yearning to hear her voice. Plus, I ask, “Where’s my soulmate to greet me each morning and fill my loving cup?”

Filling up my own cup with inspiration, benevolence and peace during meditation always reminds me of how we are all connected and that love is the necessary glue holding us all together. In fact, love is all there really is. So why do so many of the relationships that color our lives, nation and world seem more problematic and conflict-ridden than ever?

Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle teaches in his book The Power of Now that relationships are not here to make us happy or fulfilled. If we seek our salvation through them, we’ll be disillusioned again and again. But if we accept that each relationship is here to make us conscious, instead of happy, then it becomes a key to our spiritual practice. Tolle suggests that whenever a romantic or other partnership is not working and brings out the “madness” in both participants, we should be glad that what was lying unconscious is being brought to light for healing.

“We were born to love,” states Barbara Fredrickson, author of Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become. “It’s vital to our health and happiness, affecting our brains and bodies at the cellular level.” Love, she points out, is less a smooth, solid path than momentary experiences of connection.

With the big-hearted love celebration of Valentine’s Day headlining February, we shine a special light on love in our Enlightened Relationships issue. Writer Judith Fertig’s feature article, “Happily Coupled: Creating Loving Relationships that Work,” illustrates the value of consciously fostering deep connections in couples’ own words (page 44). Today’s romantic partnerships rarely look like anything most of our parents or grandparents knew; each generation creates its own models that better express authentic, individual styles of love.

It warms my heart to look through these pages and see photos of loving friends and the shared wisdom of people I’d like to meet. It inspires me to continue doing what I do and to be my best.  

We truly are in this life together, each with the power to help create a more loving world.

Here’s to spreading the love,

Sharon Bruckman, Publisher