"when we fall in love, we are suddenly stripped of our defenses, lifted our of our self-centered habits, and propelled into an enlarged view of the world. love melts our rigid attitudes and alters our psychic structure. at the same time love expands our horizons, to also brings us into deeper connection with ourselves. falling in love takes us down into our bodies; desire puts is in touch with the physical self through our wants and needs. with another, we celebrate the temple of our body and honor our physicality. as we reach down inside to share our gifts with our beloved, we are forced to confront and develop our deepest nature. the intimacy of love both reveals and integrates the shadow. loving acceptance of another allows the rejected parts of our psyche to emerge safely. not only do relationships provide a context in which the shadow is bound to emerge, intimacy invites us to share those deepest, hidden parts of ourselves. in the accepting arms of our beloved, these parts can come to consciousness. this acceptance sets the ground for self-expression, as only through self-acceptance can we come fully into our truth and have the courage to express it.

love brings a spiritual awakening, and the loss of it produces profound despair. sometimes that loss severs us from our sense of divinity—a state that can hardly be tolerated after the expansion and heightened awareness that love has brought." — Anodea Judith