I had a low level migraine that started Saturday afternoon, and continued through Wednesday morning. If I seemed off, that is basically it. I am grateful that I am not feeling quite as wonky as I had been. My June has so far been as stressful as May, so I have no doubt my stress is helping out my migraine.

My mindfulness/journal prompt for the week is: LOVE

Here’s how it was used in the books I’m reading:

  1. “I’ll tell you”, said she, in the same hurried passionate whisper, “what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter- as I did!” Charles Dickens
  2. One partner always loves the other more. Mameve Medwed
  3. She loved the simple things in life, reading novels in bed, and eating crisps in the park, just like her Dad. Phaedra Patrick
  4. If you mean that love is an escapable pit of despair that leaves you in a suspended state of misery from the moment you say I do until you finally lose the will to live, then yeah, I do believe that. BB Easton
  5. Falling in love is a series of moments in which the ordinary becomes the extraordinary. Caroline Kennedy
  6. America loves a sinner, lucky for me. Jennifer Egan
  7. Leah’s love of planning solved one of the most stressful things about travel, particularly low-budget travel: the constant decisions- every meal, every night of lodging, every bus or plane ticket. Charles Wheelan
  8. Our homes should welcome us with open arms and inspire us to live a life we love all year. Melissa Michaels
  9. He didn’t simply want to catch her, he wanted to pin her down, and make her love him as much as he loved her. Xochitl Gonzalez
  10. Families are sources of love and support, but they also have moments marked by disappointment and awkwardness. Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
  11. Love is the greatest risk of all, but a life without love is meaningless. Clare Pooley

Here’s some thoughts that I am going to explore on LOVE:

  1. Do we use the word love too often?
  2. Are we too lazy to find words that better fit situations than the word love?
  3. Is love equally good and bad?
  4. Quote 6- America loves a sinner needs to be explored more fully
  5. Are we too afraid to take a real love risk?
  6. Should you really tell your kids to find someone who loves them more?
  7. Is love ever equal between two people?
  8. Are there romantic loves that we never get over?
Sonnet XLIV

You must know that I do not love and that I love you,
because everything alive has its two sides;
a word is one wing of silence,
fire has its cold half.
I love you in order to begin to love you,
to start infinity again
and never to stop loving you:
that's why I do not love you yet.
I love you, and I do not love you, as if I held
keys in my hand: to a future of joy-
a wretched, muddled fate-
My love has two lives, in order to love you. That?s why I love you when I do not love you,
and also why I love you when I do.

Pablo Neruda
Author's Poems - via SaveAQuote.com <https://www.saveaquote.com/poems/authors-poems/>

42 thoughts on “Gratitude and Mindfulness: 6/11/22”

  1. I think your quotes show that we use ‘love’ to often in writing -likely why the BB Easton one stood out to me. 😀

    We do not use it enough in real life. We’re too afraid of actual vulnerability and sincerity.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Oh my Chelsea! I was surprised that the BB Easton quote was the one you related to. In 20 years revisit this blog. When you are no longer surrounded by so many dependent children, (needing you every moment of the day), you won’t put love and despair in the same sentence. I read that quote and actually found it rather alarming . I wondered if it’s author was seriously depressed. I didn’t see it at all as sincere. But that’s just me. Even battling cancer I never felt like I was in “a suspended state of misery!” Yikes. I have never felt like that and I’ve had an uphill battle my entire life. Perhaps love is having the freedom and time to love ourselves. Just a thought. Sending you a big hug! Please don’t despair! ❤️

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

  2. I think the best representation is #5. Caroline Kennedy’s, version of love.
    “Falling in love is a series of moments in which the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.” Caroline Kennedy

    I don’t think love is strictly about romance. .Love is so much more than a person. oh I’m a true romantic for sure. But I see love as more than a relationship. I love my children and grandchildren. Actually, if truth be known, I think love for our offspring is more powerful than any relationship We can ever experience. ( Husbands can come and go but your children are part of you.). I adore art, literature, music, nature and animals. I love a lot of things. And yeah, to the extent I feel the sentiments of #5 on your list. Love is indeed extraordinary!

    I love life too. So I don’t narrow down what love implies. But, in my opinion, the kind of love I think that is most powerful is the love of family. I’d sacrifice my life to save my children and grandchildren. Then again, I’d probably run into an art museum and try to save a Van Gogh from burning as well. Not to trivialize my love for my family because they mean more to me than anything. But I would do anything to save art ( in any form) so that it remains for the ages to be enjoyed and “loved” forever.

    Some people feel that way about love when they refer to their belief system.. While I love my traditions and all that religion represents, I don’t think spiritual guidance represents the kind of love we are talking about. I gain comfort from my faith, which to me is very different from love. But that, I suppose, is why there are so many viewpoints on what love is! ❤️

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. I guess Socrates was wise to say that the beginning of wisdom is in the definition of words… The collection of quotes about love you selected shines a light on how many different incredibly different ways people use the word “love.”

      It’s something I’ve noticed in the past: people agree on a topic, in this case “yes, it must be love”, but they only agree on the word, not on what it stands for, and so, really, they feel they agree and yet mask a gaping disagreement underneath 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Great way to think about it…we all use the word, yet, we have our own interpretations of it…and with so many interpretations, what happens?

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I think love is an extension of what we harbor in our hearts, made visible by the way we engage or respond to others. You can say the meaningless words but it is the actual day in and day out expression of love that really matters. It could be silently sitting with a friend while they grieve, engaging the person sitting alone, responding to the needs of others even when we’re exhausted, inconvenienced, or obligated elsewhere. Love is intentional. 💕C

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. BTW, I hope your Migraine is better. Migraines are miserable. I suffer from them as well. Mine can last for days. Do you get an aura? At least then you can take something immediately.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. No aura…just a weird not quite lightheaded but “off” feeling. Nothing really helps…I just need to ride them out

        Like

  6. Yes the word love is overused, we say we love icecream and we love our spouse! I would really hope that the level of love is quite different between the two! Though somedays…. maybe it is the ice cream we want more. LOL!!
    I say we overuse it but I freely admit that I am guilty of it. Its become a habit.
    As for the one quote about making the person love them. No one can be made to love someone. If you try to make someone love you, you are going to end up being unhappy!! Love can’t be forced.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I’m going to make an active effort to not use the word love as often as I do. There must be better words!! Each book I’m reading has the word love at least 60 times…I estimated that love was used every three pages more or less! That’s crazy!

      Like

      Reply

  8. Hope you are feeling better.
    There needs to be more words for different kinds of love.
    I like the Caroline Kennedy quote.
    Right now I think of love in terms of my kids. My son is home from college for the summer. One of the easiest(and perhaps laziest ways) to show him love is to provide him with his favorite foods. I made spaghetti and meatballs a few nights ago. Just went to get him his favorite Chinese food for dinner.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Cooking is a big way parents show love to their kids…the basic need a parents fills is feeding and housing a child, when they’re adults…it falls back in food

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Hi, I hope your migraine is subsiding. They’re the worst. As for the word love, I think it’s used way too much which dillutes its meaning. That said, showing unspoken love and feeling it is the best.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. It feels like the word love is tossed around too easily. I love this person. I love chocolate. I love my dog. I love my car. We can’t possibly LOVE all these things and certainly not on an equal basis. On another note, personally, I can say with confidence you do get over loving someone. If a relationship is one-sided, how can you possibly continue to love that person? What is there to love about an individual that doesn’t reciprocate? Just some random thoughts I had.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It was eye opening to me to see how often the word love is used in books…like every third page mathematically. There must be other words, because you’re right…our feelings for all these things can’t possibly be love in the same sense

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  14. Oh boy that must have been awful! I hope you’re migraine-free this week. Thanks for the prompts! Inspiring as always 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s