The Everyday Human

Action & Action

May: On Love May 23 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King—Book 6: Merlin and Vivien. You’ve heard it a thousand times before—actions speak louder than words. And so too is it true with love.  You can tell someone you love them until the end of time, but if your actions are not those of love, then what good are your words?  * Reflection title: Action & Action * Creative inspiration: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King—Book 6: Merlin and Vivien * Reflection Question: How do I show my love? What do my actions show about me?

Water It and Watch It Grow

May: On Love May 22 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin's book The Lathe of Heaven. Is love some carved, painted statue meant to sit dusty in a museum of your life? Of course not. Just as it is not something you purchase, or something that just appears one day.  It has an origin . . . like a seed. It is a complex, living, breathing, and fragile thing that needs constant nurturing and attention, like a garden that sprouts from that seed—or making bread from scratch. It requires time and sacrifice and care and patience and understanding. It demands from you the capacity to nurture, to give, and to receive.  Provide this attention and care and others will look at you and think, Damn, they make it look easy. But you’ll know the truth. * Reflection title: Water It and Watch It Grow * Creative inspiration: Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven * Reflection Question: What are my assumptions of love? How am I nurturing the love in my life?

Love for the Other

May: On Love May 21 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Baba Dioum, from the 1968, Triennial Meeting of the General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), New Delhi. And so we have it: Love is key to not only survival, but to coexisting and preserving the beauty of our world and of each other. We are one species of humanity, but we can be infinitely different in infinite ways. We can all be the other or view other humans as the other. How do we stop that from happening? By learning from each other. By seeing from another’s perspective. By practicing patience and acquiring tolerance through education. From that fertile ground grows love.  We’re still working on it. But it’s possible. And like so many things worthwhile, it starts with you. * Reflection title: Love for the Other * Creative inspiration: Baba Dioum, 1968, Triennial Meeting of the General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), New Delhi * Reflection Question: Have I viewed that which I do not understand with fear or disdain? How can I educate myself to better understand and replace my negative feelings with love?

Let’s Meet Up Again in Paradise

May: On Love May 20 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Jonny Cash. It’s an interesting thing, this idea that paradise is somewhere out there waiting for you. And I blame the travel industry and marketing. You’ve been sold this idea that where you live and where you are isn’t paradise, and that you need this idea of paradise to be happy, but as the old saying goes, “wherever you go, there you are.”  Are you going to buy into it? When what they’re really selling you is this idea of escape? They’re just other places, after all, right? The people there have their own visions of paradise or escape, maybe. It’s really a matter of perspective and choice.  So, will you let paradise be another place? Or will it be anywhere, wherever you are and with the loved one you’re next to? * Reflection title: Let’s Meet Up Again in Paradise * Creative inspiration: Johnny Cash * Reflection Question: Where is my paradise and who is there with me?

What Will Remain?

May: On Love May 19 Today's reflection was inspired by the poem "Once I Passed Through a Populous City" by Walt Whitman. So what is it that endures through time? What will the ruins of the places I visit and live in now look like 3000 years into the future? Will some soul wander through and imagine the lives and love that existed millennia ago? Perhaps . . . What endures these ages later is not the purpose of buildings, the utility of them or the practicality of the streets, but the enduring power of human will and connection, and the ghosts of love. * Reflection title: What Will Remain? * Creative inspiration: Walt Whitman, "Once I Passed Through a Populous City" * Reflection Question: Where have I been where no memories remain but the love I felt? Where will I go next and with whom?