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Posts from the ‘Love’ Category

Sep 11

The Power of Yes

“No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.” – C.S. Lewis

“Yes to everything scary. Yes to everything that takes me out of my comfort zone. Yes to everything that feels like it might be crazy. Yes to everything that feels out of character. Yes to everything that feels goofy. Yes to everything. Everything. Say yes. Yes. Speak. Speak NOW. ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Yes.’” — Shonda Rhimes, Year of Yes

Fear divides, paralyzes, lies, diminishes.
Love multiplies, flourishes, invites, feeds.
Joy, laughter, gratitude, generosity, kindness, hope, enthusiasm.
Strength builders, mind openers, game changers.
Go a bit deeper, beyond the surface, noise and soundbites.
Inquire, explore, imagine, act.
Be light in the clouds, flowers in the weeds, a seeker of goodness.
Love overcomes fear, every single time.
To more YES!

“Imagine how we would be if we were less afraid.”― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Aug 28

1 Comment

Harmonious Hum

“Some people care too much. I think it’s called love.”― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“Love is a quiet, reassuring, relaxing, pottering, pedantic, harmonious hum of a thing; something you can easily forget is there, even though its palms are outstretched beneath you in case you fall.”― Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love

In the busy of the day.
Amidst your to do list.
Rushing from one thing to the next.
In overthinking and overdoing.
Pause.
Feel the weight of love.
Gravity and immensity.
Bold and bright.
In ordinary exchanges.
In each day.
Simple moments.
Let it in.
Pass it on.
A smile.
Listening.
Patience.
Encouragement.
A hello.
In simple words and ways.
Guardian of hope.
Harmonious hum.
Love runs through it all.
Do not miss it.
Give, receive, give without counting.

“Maybe friendship is being the guardian of another person’s hope. Leave it with me and I’ll look after it for a while , if it feels too heavy for now.”― Dolly Alderton, Ghosts

Aug 13

1 Comment

In the Choosing

“The way we can allow ourselves to do what we need to, no matter what others may say or do, is to choose love and defy fear.” – Martha Beck

Love over fear.
Laughter and light.
Generosity and kindness.
Imperfect circumstances and people.
And still choosing to love daily.
Despite, or perhaps because of the “facts.”
Care, engage, show up.
To see and be seen.
New day, fresh canvas.
Paint.

“Every day brings new choices.” – Martha Beck

Jun 16

Be Bad at Math

In a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) driven society and coming from a family of engineers, “be bad at math” won’t go over well on the surface. My preference is STEAM – adding art to the mix to add nuance, creativity, fluidity. Right and left brain. Heart, mind, spirit.

But the post isn’t a debate about science or art. They coexist and are not in competition. Both are important and complete the picture. Rather it’s about being bad at math in relationships. Stop counting, comparing, keeping score, weighing, predicting, assuming, calculating, estimating.

Love, kindness, generosity, listening, reaching out, hospitality, holding a hand, not giving advice, showing up, forgiveness, walking along side no matter what, being present fully (without a phone in your face). None of these can be punched out on a calculator or will be replaced by AI. And they all become more important as we stray further and further from each other opting for the next cool technology that will transform our life. Love transforms. The quality of our relationships is the quality of our life.

So go out and be bad at math and love well, without conditions. I learned this from my Mom and Dad. Happy Father’s Day Dad. I miss you and Mom every single day. Thanks for the lessons planted and woven through that remain with me to this very day. Especially the one about being bad at math in life. Cast light!

May 20

3 Comments

Soft Soil

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.

The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.

But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.”― Yehuda Amichai

May I seek not to be right, but to soften.
To till the soil of inquiry, compassion, understanding, kindness.
Seeking what resides beneath the trampled path of indignation, judgment, assumption, othering.
A journey of belonging, inviting others to join, all are welcome.
From scarcity to abundance.
A patch of ground where flowers bloom and flourish.
May I answer, again and again, with faltering to be sure, “I have done love.”

“At the end of my life, when I say one final What have I done?, let my answer be, I have done love.”― Jennifer Pastiloff, On Being Human

May 17

2 Comments

Sweet Pure Nectar

“Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder. ”― Eberhard Arnold

“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience – it looks for a way of being constructive.
Love is not possessive.
Love is not anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own ideas.
Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.
Love is not touchy.
Love does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
Love knows no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that stands when all else has fallen.”― Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman

Eyes of wonder.
Laughter overflowing.
Full heart.
Gratitude deep down.
Joy on the journey.
May all of these be yours this very day.
Love in thoughts, words, mostly action.
Sweet nectar.

“It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.”― Kate DiCamillo, The Magician’s Elephant

May 12

1 Comment

Phenomenal Women

“Love, as we have already discussed, is a powerful, wonderful, ridiculous thing, capable of moving mountains. And spools of thread.”― Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux

Phenomenal Woman
by Maya Angelou

“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.”

To all of the phenomenal women.
Here and in heaven.
Nurturing, rooting, strong, brilliant, kind, a force to be reckoned with.
Love without condition.
The only real kind.
Celebrated every day, not one day a year.
Women hold up more than half the sky.
Thank you.

“Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.”― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana’s Way Home

May 7

2 Comments

Heartstring

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.”― Ted Hughes

Did I give with enthusiasm?
Did I find joy in the ordinary?
Did I love with an open heart?

May my answers at the end of this day to these questions be:
Yes, Yes, and Yes!
A grateful, generous, bold heart.
Daily.
Yes, please.

“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”― Rumi

May 6

Fresh Miracles

“How quickly we forget the miracles of our past as we step into an uncertain future, fearing we’ve used up our allotment of God’s provision and we’re all out of miracles.”― Katherine Wolf, Hope Heals: A True Story of Overwhelming Loss and an Overcoming Love

“When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits – islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.”― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

Here and now.
In relationship with others, the world, self.
Ever changing, stagnant, a mix.
Allowing, inviting, accepting without condition.
Patience, patience, patience.
The recipe of growth, unfolding, becoming.
Joy, in the waiting.
Grace, in the ebb and flow.
Love, the common denominator.
Fresh miracles in bloom.

“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.”― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

Apr 25

A Lamp, A Lifeboat, A Ladder

“Meaning springs from belonging.”― David Steindl-Rast

“Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”― Rumi

Get out of your head and into the world.
We can do something to change things for the better.
Our shared calling, purpose.
Simple acts.
Kindness, laughter, joy, generosity, enthusiasm, a smile, a call, a text.
Love in action daily, with intention and abandon.
That is the only way we change the world and ourselves in the process.
Love multiples, animates, expands, deepens, invites, welcomes, embraces, accompanies, listens, carries, holds, amplifies.
Go out and love others today.
A lamp, a lifeboat, a ladder.

“God’s definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.”― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

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