If you’re reading this, it’s possible you’ve found a YOU ARE LOVE print and are understandably curious about a few questions:
What is this thing?
Did someone forget the ‘D’ on ‘LOVED?’
Why does it have a number on it?
Who the heck is Smooth Ray?
Some of these questions have answers, and others do not.
The ‘thing’ is a relief block print, made by Smooth Ray. He makes a lot of these, and then gives them away. The prints are numbered, allowing people to come to the site and find their print (and perhaps leave a comment, and connect with others).
What does ‘YOU ARE LOVE’ mean?
There are a couple of ways to think about this phrase.
In one sense, it means We (you, Smooth Ray, everyone) can be that act of love. We can act with care and compassion for ourselves and others and infuse even our most seemingly-mundane moments with connection and love.
There is also a more literal way of thinking about it.
The experience of love is the experience of feeling connection rather than separation. When we love and feel loved, whether by a friend or parent or romantic partner, there is a sense of unity, of connection, and feelings of loneliness fade. The thing is, this sense of separation that we all walk around with is an illusion. We are not separate. And seeing that clearly — knowing the true nature of our connectedness, of our being — that is the same experience as love.
