Notes on Love and Hurt
Inspiration to dig deep into life.
I had a different newsletter planned. It’s partially written and will come to life soon but I did not send it last Friday. Work schedules and baby schedules and travel schedules conspired to make it very difficult to get one out on my regular publishing day. Normally I would feel disappointed in myself for not adhering to the prescribed (yet arbitrary) date. But instead I commend myself for the rare moment where I prioritized my holistic life needs and resisted forcing output that would have been rushed and come at a great sacrifice to my health.
Instead of finalizing my original letter today, events from this weekend inspired a quick note...
I was traveling for a friend’s wedding in Nashville and, as weddings often are, it was a beautiful reminder about the importance of love in our life.
Yet. This weekend wasn’t purely a girls’ trip getaway. I was also traveling with my 9-month-old daughter by myself for the first time (and thank goodness for my girls —there ready to help a tired mama out after my sweet daughter barely slept the first night). Amazing how lack of sleep can lead to an existential crisis of parenthood, but of course it does. So too will as a sacred ceremony bring a moment of pause in appreciation of love. The weekend was an emotional Chex Mix to say the least. A perfect landscape for a bit of introspection.
In a whirlwind weekend that came and went quickly, here are the hot takeaways:
On Love
As the minister started the ceremony, he said that it was a beautiful and needed time to celebrate love; to see two people bring love and joy into a broken world.
At times, that alone feels like a tall order. Maybe just a little too much to ask.
But perhaps it’s our duty to seek and find the beauties and joys of life.
On Hurt
“To bring love and joy into a broken world.”
The world is hurting now. We are hurting. Our bowl of Chex Mix (the emotional kind) may be empty. But if I can offer a wish for this group here, I would say: exercise your choice to see love, everywhere.
Be the love. Don’t wait for it to find you.
Be active in your pursuit of peace—for your sake and no one else’s. Be the peace.
Let hurt go.
Encourage anger to dissipate.
Allow the sting of disappointment—for a situation or a person—to move on.
We choose our way forward.
We choose our perspective.
We choose how much is in our cup (half full or half empty).
Big love is out there. Yes, so is hurt and pain, but we can choose what and how much we let go in favor of standing in the power of love.
It was beautiful to witness two souls committing to a journey together. But the love I speak of isn’t romantic. It’s the action and activity of our cells.
xx,
M
Much needed read today, Mary. Thank you. Your last line made me think of Gibran and his words on love:
Love has no other desire but to fulfil
itself.
But if you love and must needs have
desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook
that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own under-
standing of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate
love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with grati-
tude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the
beloved in your heart and a song of praise
upon your lips.