The Gravity of the Heart

Finding Agape in the Wild

We often grasp at love's simplest expressions: the fiery eros that keeps us up at night, or the steadfast philia shared with our closest companions. And then, there is Agape.

Strip away the dogma and Sunday school lessons, and agape isn't a pious, unreachable ideal. It is radical, unconditional, and deliberate goodwill. Although not always comfortable, agape is the decision to love the world because your internal compass refuses to point any other way. It is love as a verb. I remember a time when I stood at a crossroads, struggling with resentment toward a colleague who had wronged me. Instead of letting bitterness take hold, I consciously chose to show them kindness, even offering help with a project they struggled with. That messy moment, filled with inner conflict and ultimately marked by resolution, grounded my understanding of agape as an active choice. Similarly, imagine a moment in daily life: you're in line at a bustling grocery store, and the cashier is overwhelmed, multitasking with long queues and impatient customers. Choosing patience and offering a reassuring smile or a few kind words can transform their challenging day. It's in these ordinary exchanges that the profound nature of agape comes to life.

Examples of 'selfless-love-as-a-superpower' can be found in pop culture characters who prioritize the greater good over their own narratives. Pop culture matters because it reflects and shapes our collective consciousness, offering narratives that resonate deeply with personal growth and value formation. By drawing inspiration from these stories, we can better understand how to incorporate ideals like agape into our own lives.

• The Iron Giant: When the Giant says, "Superman," and flies toward the missile, he isn't just performing a nice gesture. He is actively overwriting his core programming. Created as a weapon of destruction, the Giant’s transformation into a protector is a powerful narrative about repurposing technology for care. This ideological shift from a tool of violence to an icon of peace and love sharpens the socio-political stakes of love. Agape, in this sense, is the ultimate act of free will.
• Samwise Gamgee: While The Lord of the Rings is full of epic battles, Sam’s devotion to Frodo—and to the memory of a world that is "good and worth fighting for"—is the ultimate secular Agape. He carries the weight because the weight needs carrying.
• Everything Everywhere All At Once: Waymond Wang’s plea—"Please, be kind. Especially when we don't know what's going on"—is the modern mantra for Agape. Before you read further, take a moment to pause and breathe, recalling a recent moment of confusion in your life. This will help you resonate with Waymond's message on a deeper level. It’s choosing empathy as a tactical necessity in a chaotic, uncaring multiverse.
• Ted Lasso: The "Lasso Way" is essentially a study in Agape. It’s the practice of offering someone the best version of yourself, even when they are actively offering you their worst.

The Mechanics of the Soul

Agape doesn't require a temple; it requires a threshold. It's the moment you stop asking, 'What does this person/place/thing do for me?' and start asking, 'How can I honor the life inherent in this?' In many ways, this echoes the principle of ahimsa in Hinduism, which emphasizes non-violence and respect for all living beings. Similarly, Buddhist metta encourages boundless loving-kindness. By drawing from these traditions, we see that the essence of love transcends any single religious or cultural boundary.

"Love is not a feeling. It's an ability." — Mitch, Dan in Real Life.

In that sense, it resembles a sort of spiritual physics. To practice agape is to exert a steady force (F) of kindness strong enough to meet the dense mass (m) of cynicism that often takes shape as relentless news doom-scroll or workplace sarcasm, and the velocity, or acceleration (a), of the chaos around us (F=ma). Consider a specific day at the office when tensions are high, and negativity feels palpable. Perhaps a teammate is struggling with a project, and the atmosphere is laced with anxiety. Here, applying a steady force of kindness—such as offering thoughtful feedback or acknowledging effort despite setbacks—can neutralize the negative mass and shift the day's trajectory, making the workplace atmosphere more positive and collaborative. By identifying these tangible forms of negativity, the metaphor becomes an invitation to counteract these forces with deliberate love.

Since we’ve established that agape is more about ability and identity than simply a fuzzy feeling, these prompts are designed to get you thinking about where you've flexed that 'moral muscle' in your life. Here are a few ways you might consider engaging with them:

- Journal: Take some quiet time to write down your thoughts and reflections on each prompt. This will help you explore your internal landscape and track your growth over time.

- Discuss: Use these prompts as starting points for meaningful conversations with friends or loved ones, deepening your understanding through shared insights.

- Meditate: Reflect on a prompt during meditation to internalize its message and find peace and clarity.

Over to You: The Agape Audit

If you’re feeling the "Lasso Way" today, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments:

• 1. Defining the Ability: If love is an ability and not just a feeling, what’s one way you’re "training" that muscle this week? Perhaps share an intended "program overwrite" for the coming days to further turn reflection into a communal commitment. By making public micro-pledges, we often sustain the heroic arc celebrated here.
• 2. The Unseen Weight: Samwise carried Frodo when the ring became too heavy. Who is someone in your life you support simply because "the weight needs carrying," even if there’s no "thank you" at the end of the road?
• 3. The Tactical Empathy: In the spirit of Waymond Wang, when has being "silly" or "kind" actually been your strongest weapon in a tough situation?
• 4. The "Superman" Moment: Is there a time you had to "overwrite your programming" (anger, cynicism, or even just laziness) to choose kindness instead? What was the catalyst?

Note: "The Lasso Way" is a philosophy of life popularized by the t.v. character Ted Lasso, focusing on kindness, empathy, and personal growth over winning. It promotes unconditional positive regard, fostering a supportive culture where people feel valued, respected, and empowered.

The Stories We Live By

Why Personal Mythology is Essential for Holistic Well-Being

Have you ever noticed that when you’re going through a tough time, the narrative you tell yourself can completely change how you feel? More than "positive thinking"—it’s personal mythology.

We are, at our core, meaning-generating systems. Humans have always used stories to understand their world, from ancient myths to the personal narratives we construct every day. In the realm of holistic well-being, the stories we tell about ourselves are arguably as important as our physical health.

Let's explore how crafting your own personal mythology can re-enchant your life, heal wounds, and provide a roadmap for your best self.

What is Personal Mythology?

Personal mythology is the unique, often subconscious, system of stories, metaphors, and images you use to make sense of your experiences, define your identity, and guide your behavior.

While facts are the raw events of your life (e.g., "I lost my job"), your myth is the meaning you attach to them (e.g., "I am a victim of bad luck" vs. "This is an opportunity for a new chapter").

According to psychologists Dr. David Feinstein and Dr. Stanley Krippner, these personal myths speak to the core concerns of human existence: Who am I? Where am I going? Why am I going there?.

3 Reasons Why Your Personal Story Matters

1. It Bridges the Gap Between Mind and Heart

Logical knowledge is one thing, but emotional embodiment is another. You might know you should be confident, but framing your life as a "hero's journey" or "equipping a knight’s armor" allows you to feel and embody that strength.

2. It Provides Meaning and Direction

A life without personal mythology can feel like a dream you have no control over. By adopting archetypes like the Mentor, the Explorer, or the Artist, you can find purpose in your daily struggles and direction for your future.

3. It Aids in Healing and Resilience

Trauma can disrupt our sense of self, leaving us feeling stuck or powerless. Personal mythology allows us to reframe these experiences. Instead of a permanent victim, you can become a survivor who has overcome significant challenges, thus shifting your narrative from damage to growth.

The Art of Rewriting Your Personal Story

You are the author of your life. If the story you’re currently living doesn't serve you, you have the power to rewrite it. This process is not about ignoring the facts, but reinterpreting them.

• Identify Your Current Narrative: What story do you find yourself repeating? Are you the hero, the victim, or the villian in your own story?.
• Externalize the Problem: Instead of "I am a failure," try saying, "I am experiencing a setback." This separates you from the problem, making it feel more manageable.
• Emphasize Redemption and Agency: Research suggests that stories focusing on agency (you took control) and redemption (you found growth in a bad situation) lead to better mental health.
• Use Metaphor: If you feel overwhelmed, imagine a character in a movie navigating this exact scenario. What would they do?.

Bringing It Together: Holistic Well-Being

Holistic health is about connecting the mind, heart, and spirit. Personal mythology does exactly this by connecting your logical, analytical mind with your deeper emotional and spiritual realities.

By embracing your story with all its flaws, triumphs, and everything in between, you stop living on autopilot and begin living with intention.

This blog post is for informational purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Play as Devotion

The soft murmur of leaves rustling in the gentle breeze, the play of sunlight creating fleeting patterns on the ground, invokes a sense of playful longing that defies rigid structure. It's an invitation to explore not with an agenda, but with curiosity. I've been thinking about play. Not the kind that comes with rules or points, the kind you schedule in between work and chores. I mean the kind Rachel Pollack was pointing to when she said, “To learn to play seriously is one of the great secrets of spiritual exploration.”

Years ago, I made that shift. When I first began my solitary practice, it was regimented—the same chants, the same gestures, the same incense and candles. But when I let go of control, one night under a moonlit sky, I allowed myself to be drawn by the sound of rustling leaves and an unplanned dance with the wind. This change was quiet at first, almost imperceptible, but it expanded everything. My rituals deepened, my magick felt alive in ways it never had before, and my practices took on a richness I hadn’t imagined possible.

Play became a serious practice. It was about paying attention, listening, noticing where the energy of a symbol or a story might lead me, and trusting it. It required patience and presence. I remember one evening, sitting quietly as the shadows lengthened, when time seemed to dissolve, leaving only the rhythmic drum of my heart and the soft caress of a cool breeze against my skin. In that suspended moment, the world around me faded, and I was entirely consumed by the sound of leaves whispering secrets. There were times when I felt vulnerable or uncertain, but that vulnerability was precisely what made the work feel alive. The sacred stopped being a set of rules or a destination and became a living conversation.

Since then, I have come to see that play is not a distraction from devotion. It is devotion. Showing up with curiosity, letting imagination guide the work, allowing the unexpected to enter, that is what opens a spiritual path. There was a time, however, when I doubted if this lightness could truly hold depth. I remember sitting one night by the flickering candlelight, wondering if I was being too whimsical, perhaps even naive. That doubt shadowed my practice until I embraced it as a part of the process. By acknowledging the uncertainty, I found that leaning into it strengthened my devotion, turning hesitations into opportunities for deeper engagement. This approach made my rituals, my magick, my writing, my life richer and fuller.

Rachel’s words remind me that the heart of spiritual work is not always solemnity. It is attention, engagement, and willingness to be changed. To play seriously is to invite the sacred into everything we do, not as a distant goal, but as something immediate and alive. To encourage your own exploration, try lighting a candle and following the first image or thought that delights you. Let this be an exercise in serious play, a step towards integrating playful curiosity into your spiritual practice.

Why Myth and Folklore Matter

 Why Myth and Folklore Matter

Imagine a cracked vessel, its pieces barely holding together, threatening to scatter with the slightest touch. There are moments in life when ordinary language fails us. Catastrophe, cruelty, collective trauma, and personal rupture arrive with such force that familiar frameworks collapse. The mind searches for coherence and finds none. The body holds fear without explanation. The heart knows that life has changed shape, even if it cannot yet describe how.

In these moments, myth and folklore offer a form of intelligence older than analysis and deeper than reassurance. They do not erase pain or provide neat resolutions. Instead, they create a symbolic container large enough to hold experiences that feel alien, overwhelming, or morally incomprehensible. Myth steps in where linear explanation falls short, offering a profound understanding that embraces ambiguity and complexity, aligning with the human need for stories that connect us to the mysterious and the unknown.

Across cultures and centuries, myth and folklore have served as tools for navigating realities that defy reason, whether those realities take the form of war, exile, illness, grief, betrayal, or sudden loss. Embedded within these narratives is the timeless question: How do we stand within chaos? These stories exist because human beings have always encountered forces that threaten their sense of order and identity. Myth does not deny chaos. It teaches us how to stand within it without being erased.

Myth as a Language for the Unspeakable 

One of the primary functions of myth is translation. When an experience feels too vast, too frightening, or too unfamiliar to name directly, myth gives it shape. It transforms terror into narrative, turning raw sensation into symbolic meaning. Consider the story of Anna, a survivor of a natural disaster who found herself in complete disarray after losing her home to a hurricane. In the aftermath, she stumbled upon the myth of the Phoenix, the bird that rises from its ashes. This myth offered her hope and renewal, helping her see beyond the immediate devastation. For Anna, the myth translated her overwhelming fear and loss into a narrative of resilience and rebirth, allowing her to navigate her changed reality with newfound strength.

Consider the ancient flood myths that appear across cultures, from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the story of Noah, from Hindu cosmology to Indigenous oral traditions. These stories did not arise solely from abstract theology. They reflect collective encounters with devastation, environmental collapse, and the terrifying sense that the world itself had turned hostile. Through myth, the flood becomes more than a disaster. It becomes a passage, a cleansing, a rupture that demands ethical reckoning and renewal. Similarly, contemporary narratives about climate change echo these ancient myths. Rising tides, hurricanes, and polar ice melt are part of a modern flood myth that signifies an urgent call for humanity to recognize its impact on the planet and the necessity for transformation and adaptation.

Similarly, myths of descent into the underworld speak to psychological states that feel annihilating from the inside. The Greek story of Persephone, taken into the realm of the dead, gives form to experiences of loss, depression, and enforced transformation. Persephone does not choose descent, and she does not return unchanged. Her myth acknowledges a truth many modern narratives avoid: some experiences alter us permanently, and survival does not mean restoration to a former self. Consider the words of Maya, a trauma survivor, who expressed, 'I emerged from the depths not as the person who went in, but as someone forever changed, carrying the shadows as part of who I have become.' This testimony echoes Persephone’s lesson, tethering the myth to the lived psychology of irreversible transformation.

By framing these experiences within a larger mythic cycle, folklore offers a way to understand suffering without reducing it to pathology or failure.

Folklore as a Map Through Moral Rupture

Myth and folklore also help us navigate situations that feel morally destabilizing, especially encounters with cruelty, betrayal, or systemic violence. When human behavior becomes vile or incomprehensible, myth provides archetypal language for naming what has occurred.

Fairy tales, often dismissed as simple or childish, are particularly adept at this work. Stories like Bluebeard confront the reality of intimate violence and the dangers of willful ignorance. The tale does not soften its warning. Curiosity is framed as survival. Silence is shown as lethal. The monster is not abstract. He lives inside the home. In recent years, true-crime stories reflecting the Bluebeard narrative have surfaced in headlines, reminding us of the ongoing dangers of intimate violence. Such modern accounts underscore the tale's ongoing urgency, serving as a bridge between age-old stories and present-day vigilance.

Trickster figures across cultures also serve an essential function in times of upheaval. Characters like Loki, Coyote, Anansi, or Hermes appear when rules fracture and certainty dissolves. They embody instability itself. Tricksters disrupt, deceive, and expose hypocrisy. In catastrophic conditions, these figures remind us that rigid systems often collapse first, and adaptability becomes a form of wisdom. Yet, the trickster's deceit is paradoxically both destructive and creative. They dismantle existing order but also inspire innovation and change, inviting us to sit with the tension of destruction, paving the way for creation. This duality challenges us to appreciate adaptive ethics, where the interplay between chaos and order leads to growth and transformation.

Through such stories, folklore gives us ethical clarity without simplistic morality. It acknowledges that survival sometimes requires cunning, vigilance, and the ability to read danger before it announces itself.

Myth and the Experience of Radical Otherness

Trauma often produces a sense of estrangement from one's own life. Survivors describe feeling as though they have crossed into an unfamiliar country where old customs no longer apply. Myth understands this territory intimately. Reflect on this: when have you felt exiled from your own life? Such moments of personal inquiry invite us into the emotional landscape that myths have long navigated.

Stories of exile, transformation, and monstrous metamorphosis speak directly to this sense of radical otherness. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, characters are turned into trees, animals, or stars, often following acts of violence or loss. These transformations are not presented solely as metaphors. They reflect the lived reality of people whose identities have been forcibly reshaped by experience.

In folklore, becoming other is neither moral failure nor personal weakness. It is a consequence of contact with overwhelming forces. Myth reassures us that disorientation is a valid response to rupture, and that meaning can still be forged within altered conditions.

Collective Memory and Cultural Survival

Beyond individual psychology, myth and folklore preserve collective memory. They carry the emotional knowledge of communities that endured famine, colonization, genocide, and displacement. Long after historical records fade, stories retain the emotional truth of what occurred. In current movements for historical justice, such as those seeking recognition for indigenous rights or reparations for colonial injustices, myths provide a vital framework. They connect past struggles to present-day struggles, offering a narrative that empowers communities to seek redress and transformation. Through storytelling, myths illuminate paths for activism, showing how present-day justice can be informed by lessons embedded in ancestral experiences.

Indigenous myths, in particular, often encode survival strategies, environmental knowledge, and spiritual resilience. These stories are not escapist fantasies. They are repositories of lived wisdom, shaped by centuries of adaptation under pressure. To engage with them respectfully is to recognize myth as a form of cultural endurance. As Thomas King, an Indigenous writer and scholar, notes, these narratives carry the weight of history and serve as a roadmap for future generations. By acknowledging and citing Indigenous voices, we honor the rich tradition and continue in the spirit of cultural recognition and respect.

In times of widespread crisis, whether ecological, political, or social, myth reconnects individuals to a larger human lineage. It reminds us that disruption is part of the human record, and that endurance has many forms.

Why Myth Still Matters Now

Modern culture often privileges speed, certainty, and solutions. It thrives on rapid scrolling news cycles, instant communication, and quick fixes, shaping a society that desires immediate gratification and resolution. Myth, on the other hand, operates on different principles. It moves slowly. It tolerates ambiguity. It allows contradiction. These qualities make it uniquely suited for navigating catastrophic or morally complex realities.

Myth does not demand optimism. It does not promise closure. It offers recognition. It says, this has happened before in different forms, to different people, under different names. You are not alone in this terrain. What story or myth offers you solace in uncertain times? Can you recall or seek a narrative that steadies you and imparts wisdom? Inviting ourselves to remember such stories can turn recognition into a practice that enriches our daily lives.

In a world increasingly shaped by rupture, myth and folklore remain essential companions. They do not rescue us from suffering. They teach us how to live with depth, awareness, and meaning when life refuses to behave as expected.

When ordinary language breaks, myth reminds us how to speak.

The Body as Oracle

 

The Body as Oracle

The body often registers what is happening before the mind has words for it. Long before a decision feels conscious, the body has already responded: energy shifts, attention narrows or opens, muscles tense or release. We are rarely encouraged to treat these responses as meaningful. Instead, we learn to explain them away, to override them in the name of efficiency or reason, and to keep moving until discomfort becomes impossible to ignore. In doing so, we miss a steady source of information that is available to us all the time.

Fatigue is one of the clearest signals the body offers, though it is frequently misunderstood. Not all tiredness is a problem; some fatigue is simply the result of effort or care. What matters is the quality of it. There is a particular kind of exhaustion that appears out of proportion to the task at hand, or that shows up reliably in certain situations. When fatigue gathers around specific commitments, conversations, or environments, it is often pointing to an ongoing imbalance. Something is being asked that costs more than it returns.

Paying attention does not mean abandoning responsibility or withdrawing from life. It means noticing patterns rather than pushing past them. Often, what needs to change is not the work itself, but the conditions under which it is being done, or the version of yourself that feels required to carry it.

Excitement, by contrast, tends to be subtle and steady. It is not always loud or urgent, and it does not depend on external validation. This kind of excitement shows itself in what continues to interest you after rest, what you return to without pressure, and what feels nourishing even when it is challenging. It does not guarantee success or ease, but it often indicates a form of alignment between the task and your own temperament.

Resistance is the signal we are most likely to pathologize. It is easy to name it fear or avoidance and try to push through. Sometimes that assessment is accurate. Just as often, resistance arises when timing is wrong, when consent is incomplete, or when the scope of what is being asked exceeds what feels sustainable. The body resists what it cannot safely absorb.

When resistance is approached with curiosity rather than force, it becomes more precise. It may soften if the task becomes smaller or less absolute, suggesting the need for adjustment rather than refusal. When it remains firm despite those changes, it may be marking a genuine boundary. Learning to tell the difference takes time and attention, not discipline.

Treating the body as a source of guidance is not about treating sensation as command. Bodies carry habit, history, and memory. The practice is cumulative. You begin to notice what reliably drains you, what restores you without effort, and what only becomes difficult when the stakes or expectations shift. Over time, these observations form a pattern that is hard to dismiss.

This is a grounded form of divination, one rooted in observation rather than symbolism. The body does not speak in declarations or answers. It communicates through timing, sensation, and repetition. When taken seriously, and without judgment, it offers information that is practical, consistent, and already woven into daily life.

Alignment in Action

 I was recently invited to join a regular virtual writers’ group. I’d always seen myself as a lone-wolf writer, so I was open to the idea but a bit skeptical. From the first session, though, those doubts disappeared. Rather than feeling distracted or limited, I actually thrived in the group’s energy.

Our group works in a way that feels simple and special. Sometimes we write quietly, other times we talk. We share ideas and discuss word choices, direction, plot, and dialogue. These conversations don’t interrupt the work. For me, they make it richer. I admire and trust these creative people, and that changes everything.

What surprised me most was how the group’s energy stayed with me even after our meetings. On days when I write alone, I still feel lifted by that shared momentum. My solo writing has started to grow in new ways. I didn’t expect that. It made me realize that some ways of working naturally support the life I want to create.

Alignment is my word for the year, and the Temperance card shows me how to get there. This year is about making small changes, blending things on purpose, and trusting that the right mix will show up if I pay attention. Alignment means choosing what fits and adjusting what doesn’t. It’s about letting my inner truth and my actions work together. Temperance in tarot represents this process.

The angel on the card never keeps the cups still. The water moves back and forth, always testing and adjusting. Alignment works like that too. It’s not about staying the same, but about responding to what’s needed. Things feel easier when I notice what’s off and gently adjust until it feels right again.

Temperance is about bringing things together, not giving something up. Fire and water meet without canceling each other out. In life and work, that’s a powerful balance. Intellect and intuition. Discipline and letting go. Learning and mystery. Nothing important has to be lost, just combined with care.

Patience is also at the heart of this. Temperance moves at the pace that feels right, not at the pace of urgency. When things are aligned, momentum happens naturally. Everything starts to fit together on its own. The steady progress I feel in my writing now feels like alignment in action—less struggle, fewer false starts.

I didn’t plan to find a new way of working this year. It found me. In that unexpected change, I realized I’d started a work practice that fits the word I’ve chosen for 2026: alignment. It’s not a goal to chase or a rule to follow, but a feeling of balanced ease. Harmony. The Temperance card reminds me of this.

Sixteen Sparks

Celebrating The Bloglet of Fire

 

Today, The Bloglet of Fire turns sixteen.

When I started this little corner of the internet so many years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that it would still be burning brightly all these seasons later—nor that it would grow into something people would seek out, share, and recognize. What began as a simple space for reflection, curiosity, and spiritual exploration gradually became an archive of my life lived in words: the questions that shaped me. These paths surprised me, the stories that helped me return to myself again and again.

Over the years, readers have come and gone like travelers through a warmly lit café, leaving comments, connections, and conversations that helped this blog become more than a solitary practice. It became a shared hearth. A breathing archive. A witness.

Somewhere along the way, The Bloglet of Fire found itself honored—an award-winning presence in the world of visionary resources. Even now, that recognition feels a little surreal. It’s one thing to write into the quiet; it’s another to learn that the quiet has been echoing outward, touching people, offering guidance or companionship when they needed it. I’m humbled that this work has spoken to anyone beyond my own journal pages, and deeply grateful for the acknowledgment from a community I care about so profoundly.

But beyond the awards, beyond the years, beyond the long archive of posts stretching back to those early internet days, what fills me most today is simple joy. Joy that I kept returning to this space. Joy that you, dear reader, kept returning, too. And joy that something as small and steady as a blog can become a lifelong companion.

Sixteen years is no small thing. Thank you for walking beside me, whether from the beginning or just recently joining the flame. Thank you for reading, for sharing, for cheering me on, and for allowing The Bloglet of Fire to grow into its own kind of living myth.

Here’s to the next spark, the following story, and a new season of listening and creating.

With gratitude, humility, and a heart full of light—
Amber