What if we each aspired to love like the sun? The 14th-century poet Hafiz wrote:
“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.”
What if we loved like that?
The sun offers us a shining example of how to live and love. It rises without asking who is worthy of its warmth. It shines whether we notice it or not, whether clouds hide it or our eyes are closed. Even when it sets for us, it shines for someone else. Its constancy is not in staying still but in returning, again and again, day after day.
To love like the sun is not to give without boundaries. The sun rests. It moves in cycles we can depend on. Love is no different. It flows best when we honor the rhythm of giving and replenishing, shining and retreating.
I once learned this truth through my grandfather, Pop Pop. In a sorrowful stretch of my childhood, when tears felt like my daily script, he surprised me one morning by driving hours to take me to Disneyland. He spent the day devoted to joy, drying my tears with presence and laughter. He expected nothing in return. Pop Pop simply cared. Like the sun, his love lit my sky.
A single beam of kindness can pierce the darkest day.
Love does not need to be grand to be powerful. As Sitting Bull once said:
“The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love.”
We, too, can be that embrace. A kind word, a warm meal, a listening heart—each is sunlight made visible.
The sun doesn’t force, fake, or apologize for shining. It simply is. When we live at the highest level of our nature, we also shine—effortless, generous, radiant. And when clouds pass through, our light waits behind them, ready to return.
So love like the sun. Rise. Shine. Rest. Repeat.
Your warmth may be the light someone is waiting for today.
~ ✦ ~
P.S. Whose sky will you light today?
If you’d like a daily reminder to love like the sun—to rise, shine, rest, and repeat—I’ve created a limited-edition Word Art print called I Am The Sun. Each piece is hand-signed, numbered, and made with the same warmth and intention that inspired this essay. You can find it in the Mundancing Shop, waiting to brighten your space and spirit.