Devotion as Reclamation of Desire

In losing an old identity, we often lose touch with what we genuinely desire—our longings become suspect, absorbed into others' agendas. Mirabai's devotion to Krishna was pure desire: she wanted something intensely, unambiguously, unapologetically. Her love for the divine was erotic, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual all at once. This concept suggests that grief for lost identity carries a hidden blessing: it can reconnect you with authentic desire. Before the world shaped you, what did you want? Not what you thought you should want, but what made your heart move? The bhakti path doesn't suppress desire; it consecrates it. When you examine who you were, you're often recovering a person who wanted things openly, trusted their own hunger, pursued what moved them. Reclaiming that capacity—to desire without apology, to long without shame—is how devotion becomes liberating practice. Your grief contains the seeds of your authentic wanting. By examining what you've lost, you restore access to the deepest yes that lives in your heart.