Loving it All: aspiration, inspiration, and also a state of mind.
I made my ‘debut’ as a writer for Main Street (an English language newspaper in the Laurentians) over four years ago with an article on positive thinking, and I continued with variations on this theme for a few months. I didn’t have a title for my column then, and for various reasons I stopped writing it, only to start again in January 2012. Fast forward to the Main Street writers’ conference in October this year, when Sue Macdonald, the new editor, asks me to come up with a title for the revived column. I was lost for words, and I said I’d think about it.
Well, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching since then. Since I haven’t had a theme to conform to so far, I’ve been free to write about whatever came to me in the moment. I really enjoyed that liberty, and there is a little red rebel in me that definitely doesn’t want to confine herself in any way. On the other hand, having a heading can be inspiring, too, I told myself. In fact, I realized, the name of the column could even express an aspiration that motivates me to explore that theme from all sorts of angles. Now that sounded interesting, now we’re talking!
Well, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching since then. Since I haven’t had a theme to conform to so far, I’ve been free to write about whatever came to me in the moment. I really enjoyed that liberty, and there is a little red rebel in me that definitely doesn’t want to confine herself in any way. On the other hand, having a heading can be inspiring, too, I told myself. In fact, I realized, the name of the column could even express an aspiration that motivates me to explore that theme from all sorts of angles. Now that sounded interesting, now we’re talking!
I still needed to find a title, though, and preferably one that would not restrict me too much in my monthly musings. Since my mind continued to be empty of any ideas in this direction, I asked my best friend, whose editorial comments on my writing are always very helpful. Maybe she could dream up something, knowing well what my topics tend to be?
‘How about Loving What Is?’, she throws in lightly, without thinking very much. There’s nothing like asking for help! Loving What Is is the title of a very special book by Byron Katie that is about releasing resistance to what is by inquiring into our thoughts about the way things should be. I highly recommend reading it, by the way. There was one little hitch, though: Sue’s editorial wisdom had it that it should be my own heading, not somebody else’s. After a very interesting discussion with her about this, I sat down and … came up with Loving it All.
What is neat about this phrase is that it takes me right back to where I started off as a Main Street writer. Moreover, being positive is a fairly constant theme for me: partly because I’m a therapist and I work with my clients on how to move out of the painful places they are caught in, and partly because my own mind has a way of veering into the negative unless I keep a close watch on it. Let’s just say that I’m not a natural born optimist. Nor are most people, for that matter. But we can all learn to make peace with what is, we can even learn to love it. So variations on this topic will probably continue to show up every so often.
What I like even more about the title is that it lends itself to writing about what I truly love: the beautiful surroundings here in the Laurentians. Nature is an endless source of inspiration for me, and those of you who have read my articles this year will have noticed that there are often seasonal themes that provide the flavor or even the topic of the month.
There is a third strand of meaning that is very hard to talk about these days because the word is often used so cheaply: love. Christmas is the season of love … and love is what makes life worth living, what gives it meaning, sparkle, and depth. I might just dare venture in this direction, too, as this is another one of my favorite subjects.
So this, dear reader, is what the column will be all about. Thank you, Sue, for bringing up the issue and challenging me to show my true colors, and thank you, Wendy, for the initial spark of an idea. Loving it All: aspiration, inspiration, and also a state of mind. I love it!
‘How about Loving What Is?’, she throws in lightly, without thinking very much. There’s nothing like asking for help! Loving What Is is the title of a very special book by Byron Katie that is about releasing resistance to what is by inquiring into our thoughts about the way things should be. I highly recommend reading it, by the way. There was one little hitch, though: Sue’s editorial wisdom had it that it should be my own heading, not somebody else’s. After a very interesting discussion with her about this, I sat down and … came up with Loving it All.
What is neat about this phrase is that it takes me right back to where I started off as a Main Street writer. Moreover, being positive is a fairly constant theme for me: partly because I’m a therapist and I work with my clients on how to move out of the painful places they are caught in, and partly because my own mind has a way of veering into the negative unless I keep a close watch on it. Let’s just say that I’m not a natural born optimist. Nor are most people, for that matter. But we can all learn to make peace with what is, we can even learn to love it. So variations on this topic will probably continue to show up every so often.
What I like even more about the title is that it lends itself to writing about what I truly love: the beautiful surroundings here in the Laurentians. Nature is an endless source of inspiration for me, and those of you who have read my articles this year will have noticed that there are often seasonal themes that provide the flavor or even the topic of the month.
There is a third strand of meaning that is very hard to talk about these days because the word is often used so cheaply: love. Christmas is the season of love … and love is what makes life worth living, what gives it meaning, sparkle, and depth. I might just dare venture in this direction, too, as this is another one of my favorite subjects.
So this, dear reader, is what the column will be all about. Thank you, Sue, for bringing up the issue and challenging me to show my true colors, and thank you, Wendy, for the initial spark of an idea. Loving it All: aspiration, inspiration, and also a state of mind. I love it!