An Interview with Dr. Scott Peck & Shannon Peck Co-Authors “The Love You Deserve: A Spiritual Guide to Genuine Love”
By Susan Stevenson

This is an interview with Dr. Scott Peck and Shannon Peck, co-authors of the just-revised second edition of the widely popular book, “The Love You Deserve: A Spiritual Guide to Genuine Love”.

Susan Stevenson: In your book, The Love You Deserve, you write about the love that everyone deserves. What is the key to having this love?

Scott: The key to the love you deserve is to dramatically raise our love standards and learn the love skills we’ve never been taught. For more than nine years, Shannon and I have shared an extraordinary love with each other that is off the charts. Our love has so powerfully affected us ? and so touched the lives of people who know us ? that we want everyone to experience this love. Shannon: We all need to learn how to be more successful in our love relationships because the number one thing we all live for is love. What, really, is more important than love in our lives? When the September 11th tragedy struck, the last actions of those about to die were simple phone calls saying “I love you.” Nothing else ? money, career, or agendas ? mattered. We all watched this up close together and it sent a vital message to us to place a much higher value on living love each moment.

Susan Stevenson: With a divorce rate over fifty percent, something is obviously not working in our love lives. How can everyone experience the love they deserve?

Shannon: It’s true, the divorce rate shows that our love lives are in almost constant turmoil. So many are looking for love and not finding it, but this should and can end. It is time to take ourselves out of love fog and into love light. We all can learn how to create more love for ourselves and in our relationships. Love is sacred ? and advancing in love begins with loving yourself. This is so vital that it’s the very first of the 10 love keys we share in our book. Loving yourself is not selfish. It is a huge step towards self-esteem that brings inner peace and also causes you to be far more attractive ? because you are radiating spiritual love. Scott: Experiencing the love you deserve is not just a hope or dream. It’s our spiritual right. This attitude dramatically shifts us into a mental position to experience genuine love. Begin thinking of love as something you are already qualified to receive and give at the highest level of possibility.  Love is calling each of us higher.

Susan Stevenson: One of the chapters in your book is called Finding the Love Mate of Your Dreams. How can people find the love mate of their dreams?

Shannon: This is the most exciting part of love and it happens when we learn how to meet our love partner in love’s light. We deserve to be connected to a partner who shares our spiritual vision and values. This doesn’t happen when we are caught up in how someone looks, how wealthy or important they are, or even how much fun they are to be with. Of course we want to be physically attracted to our love mate and enjoy that person immensely, but this is not enough to make love work ? and definitely not enough to experience love bliss. Imagine the power of radiating your inner being so clearly that you attract others who are soulfully like you. This presents a whole new paradigm for connecting purposefully. This is what it means to meet in the light.

Susan Stevenson: Do you believe that there is a soul mate for everyone?

Scott: We absolutely do. Love would not be just if it were meant for only a few people. What often prevents people from meeting their soul mate is their own intense planning of how or when it needs to happen or their absolute conviction that it won’t happen to them. It’s time to open a new door and let love produce and guide your love life.  This is what causes your soul mate to show up on your radar. This is how we met. Love brought us together as we surrendered to love in meditation and sacred prayer. Many couples have found the love mate of their dreams in this way. Love has a plan for each of us to feel totally loved ? and turning to Spirit brings this into reality.

Susan Stevenson: How can those in a relationship most advance in love?

Shannon: One of the top ways that Scott and I advance our love is by cherishing each other’s dreams. This is immensely empowering and creates enormous love flow. We constantly explore our dreams together and this leads to mutual goal fulfillment ? and far greater intimacy. We have birthed many of our dreams by learning to practice enormous positive support, encouragement, and listening to each other’s highest desires. This is how TheLoveCenter, our non-profit educational organization, came into being with the mission statement that reflected our deepest longings “to bring all humanity into the heart of Love.” This is a peek at what genuine love looks like from the inside.

Susan Stevenson: How do you two settle arguments?

Scott: This is a critical place in love where a relationship can quickly disintegrate. Some relationships never regain their fresh love because of hurtful words blurted out during an angry moment. Shannon and I came to a mutual decision early in our relationship never to argue and we have many creative ways to come quickly back into unity at times of disagreements.

One of our methods is to make sure that “the love truck” is always ready to roll. Don’t laugh, it works! Call the love truck as though you would call the fire department if your home were on fire. If you lived only a few minutes from the fire department, you could prevent your house from burning. If, however, it took 30 minutes for the fire truck to arrive, your home might be destroyed. It’s the same with a love relationship. Many relationships go up in flames or continue to smolder because there is no forgiveness and reconciliation ? or it comes too late. So we call the love truck early! In fact, we think of the love truck as permanently parked outside our house. And what comes out of the love truck? Gentleness, forgiveness, tenderness, sweetness, a remembering of why you came together as partners, even goodwill and humor. So keep that love truck available ? and call immediately when there is relationship heat. You will be astounded at the healing power of this decision for your relationship.

Susan Stevenson: You speak of love as sacred. How can we bring sacred love into our relationships?

Shannon: Sacred love is spiritual love. It’s as simple and profound as that. As we learn to regard each other as sacred, another person’s true being and worth is revealed. This attitude of reverence towards a partner’s highest self takes love to a level of joy and fulfillment that is almost unimaginable. Far from being pie-in-the-sky love dreaming, this is what makes love work. For example, I know with 100% assurance every single day that I can count on an environment of unconditional love with Scott. Not most of the time. All the time!  Can you imagine how emotionally satisfying that is?

Scott: Shannon and I both experienced earlier marriages where we felt emotionally devastated and depleted. This is a big reason why we so deeply value each other’s unconditional loving kindness. We treat each other as love mates and also as best friends ? every day. The consistency of our love doesn’t take dips. That’s what makes our love so extraordinary and why we want every person on Earth to experience this love. That’s what compelled us to write “The Love You Deserve.” Remember, everything we’ve shared in this interview is not just a possibility. It’s the genuine love that each of us deserves and can have.  Welcome to the heart of Love!

Dr. Scott Peck & Shannon Peck are co-founders of TheLoveCenter, a non-profit educational organ-ization bringing all humanity into the heart of Love. This interview is based on their just-released second edition of “The Love You Deserve: A Spiritual Guide to Genuine Love,” now available at Amazon.com and bookstores. They are also co-authors of “Liberating Your Magnificence” & the audio course, “All the Love You Could Ever Want!” The Pecks are popular speakers, workshop leaders, & TV & radio guests. Scott holds a Masters in Education and a Doctorate in Divinity. Shannon has a degree in Religious Studies and is a full-time spiritual healer. For more information, visit www.TheLoveCenter.com , call TheLoveCenter at (800) 266-1525, or you may also e-mail TheLoveCenter@aol.com .

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