One man explores the idea of divine love through his collection of poetic musings, meditations, and observations.

Mihal’s examination of love’s divine nature comprises four parts. The first, “Daily Meditation: Her,” begins with dated excerpts that start on August 7, 2019, and introduces readers to the unidentified “Her.” Each entry consists of anywhere from a half-page to multipage snippets of thought. Although Mihal spends much time discussing his feelings for Her (“I try to remember at what point my heart became irreversibly touched by her soul image”), this feeling often bleeds into a more expansive concept of “divine love”—also referred to throughout as “The Goddess Within.” The second section, “Daily and Walking Meditation: Seoul—South Korea,” loosely follows the narrator’s time in Seoul as he contemplates things like the need to feel grateful when “the beloved” accepts the gift of offered love. Part three, “Deep Meditation and Visions: Thoughts of Enlightenment,” dabbles in more concrete language and practical advice for readers. Mihal defines mantra, for example, and demonstrates how the idea exists across multiple religions under different names (Hesychasm for Christianity, Sufism for Islam, Bhakti Yoga for Hinduism, etc.). The last section, “Memories of My ‘Self,’” expresses Mihal’s belief that everyone has the ability to change their reality through dreams. He then recalls a handful of dreams that have stuck with him: “I saw the arguing guy’s face so close that the details were like being in reality…And I had the impulse to Matrix out of this environment and push his car like in those damn movie effects.” Sprinkled throughout are occasional quotes from people like Maya Angelou and Mother Teresa, as well as “inspiring music” suggestions, like “Hey Laura” byGregory Porter.

Mihal creates mini prose portraits of feelings and moments that trace the nuances of his emotions, some of which will likely be familiar to others (“Time becomes a value more appreciated than anything else when feeling kind or loving someone in moments of togetherness”), while others are more abstract (“Warmth, happiness and the echo of eternity make a point in a vacuum. Your soul is bathing in those feelings encapsulated in a simple word like ‘Love’”). While the blend of poetic reflections and meditations are beautiful, the writing ultimately leans too heavily on the vague, sometimes indistinct musings of the author. Passages often contain terms and phrases that haven’t been fully fleshed out (“soul message,” “soul dreaming,” etc.). Even the sections that attempt some sort of narrative thread, like those in the Seoul section, are very much open to interpretation: “After the movie, being close to my beloved friend, Han River, hearing its calling to talk over a walk meditation along with the Wind and Sun all day long was a stroll through the veil of time.” Mihal’s overall message—embrace the vastness of love and use the physical and spiritual selves to reflect it to others—is an uplifting and admirable one. Regrettably, that message gets lost among inexact phrasing and structure.

An expressive, if sometimes elusive, assortment of thoughts and ideas on love.