6 Secrets for Cultivating a Field of Love at Your Gathering
Simple actions can make all the difference.
By featured writer, Maja Apolonia Rode
Introduction
In this article, I will share six of my tried-and-true secrets for generating a harmonically resonant field of love at gatherings, large and small. Some of these actions are deceptively simple, but they make a big difference! Here they are in chronological order:
1. “Word-of-Heart” Invitations
Cultivate love from the start by weaving it into your invitation process. Invite someone you feel comfortable with and enjoy being around. Find a date that works, and even if it ends up with just the two of you, you'll have a wonderful time!
Let the spark of your heart guide you as you invite others. For larger gatherings, start with people you love and encourage them to invite people they love. When addressing the group, you can sincerely say, "Everyone is here because they are loved." This shared awareness brightens the field of love instantly.
2. Greeting People With Love
A friend's mother-in-law once shared her secret to successful parties: “Make sure everyone feels warmly welcomed as soon as they walk in.” This high-leverage action is a top priority. If I can't greet guests personally, I ask a warm-hearted someone to do it and convey the importance of this role.
A "warm welcome" means greeting people with joy and an open heart. It means reflecting their value and appreciating their presence. Help them get oriented and connect with others if they're new. Each arrival imprints a first impression of the gathering, so welcome wholeheartedly. Greeting people is like the first violin in a symphony; it sets the tone. This practice sets the field of love in motion.
3. One-Word Check-ins
To make a field of love real, we must be aware of and care for each other. One-word check-ins are a simple, powerful way to accomplish this. Your lead-in to this check-in process could be as simple as: "Thank you all for being here. It is an honor to share this time with you. Let's create a circle together."
Instruction: Ask each person to consider what quality would make the shared experience fulfilling for them, like Authenticity, Playfulness, or Connection. They aren’t responsible for bringing it; they’re simply invoking it, like a wish.
Reflection: Give everyone a moment to consider the quality they want to invite.
Sharing: Start by sharing your own quality, then invite others to do the same, going clockwise. Each person says their name and the quality they invite.
Follow this example: "My name is… Maja, and I invite into the circle… the quality of delight." Pause for a moment after each person to feel the possibility of that quality.
It's important to allow everyone to invest their presence and voice from the start, so save a lengthy monologue for after this process.
4. Attune to Beauty Together
After creating a sense of mutual awareness and care, deepen the experience by attuning to beauty. Beauty reflects our true nature as loving precious beings. Acknowledging beauty can be as simple as drawing attention to a bouquet of flowers or mentioning how a candle evokes the ancient practice of gathering around a fire. You could play a piece of music or read a poem to set the tone. Ring a meditation bell three times to invite a minute of silence and/or invite three simple breaths as a gentle continual reminder of our interconnection with the natural world.
For a gentle yet powerful beauty attunement, consider using a Flow Harp, designed to easily elevate your sacred space even if you have no musical experience. In a recent conversation, Sacred Space Facilitator Lisa Lewis-Cogswell described these harps as being in "a whole different stratosphere" of sacred space creation tools.
5. Play with Purpose
The above simple secrets set the stage for why you've gathered, whether for a conversation, a celebration, or a ceremony. The key principle at the heart of a good gathering is a well-designed structure that naturally facilitates your desired outcomes.
It's like how walking into a cathedral elicits a state of awe, the design of Flow Harps allow you to cultivate a group flow state without musical experience, and the structural support of a stem allows a flower to emerge.
"Just let the people do what they want" misses a valuable opportunity. Free play is important, and freedom paradoxically requires structure. Like a playground with a fence, or the lines and rules of a basketball court, structures provide a zone for freedom and play.
Healthy structures nurture and liberate, so find the processes and rules that support the outcomes you wish to cultivate.
6. Weaving Love and Wisdom
After the central experience of your gathering, consciously complete the space. Here's a simple yet quietly profound closing exercise we’ve developed, called 5-Word Highlights:
Reflect: Give everyone a minute to ponder their experience of the gathering. What wisdom did they discover? What golden threads resonates most?
Distill: Invite people to distill their reflection into five words. They can be poetic, practical, or playful. Aiming for five words can result in a powerful turn of words, but is not required.
Share: Invite people to share their five words slowly three times as the group leads itself in a “Golden Threads Meditation” if you like. After someone shares their five words three times, ask them to complete the sentence "I close the circle with …" (1-3 words to describe their experience right now). You go first, then proceed around the circle counter-clockwise.
Example:
"Illuminating the way of resonance. [pause]
Illuminating the way of resonance. [pause]
Illuminating the way of resonance. [pause]
I close the circle with gratitude and clarity."
Ideally, connect with each person before they depart. You might mention to the group, "Please give me a hug before you go," or find another authentic way to connect.
Final Words
These secrets may seem simple but their impact runs deep. Each one activates a field of loving presence that supports fulfillment on personal, collective, and even global levels.
Every gathering you host is an opportunity to plant seeds for a world we all want to live in.
For a more in-depth look at the secrets I’ve shared here, check out the full-length article on my website.
I warmly invite you to explore the possibility of Creative Mentoring with me
Learn about the power and possibility of owning a Flow Harp. And listen to the recent conversation, I had with Lisa Lewis-Cogswell about the Power of Flow Harps.
Let's create a world of beauty, one conscious connection at a time. Thank you for your time and caring attention.
About the Author
Dr. Maja Apolonia Rode is a creativity mentor, spiritual innovator, and devoted lover of life on earth. With inventions like Divine Dice and The Flow Experience, Maja weaves collective wisdom with creativity and caring. Her larger calling is to advance a human society that cultivates well-being for all. Visit Maja’s Website
