By Kim Nelson, on June 25th, 2010%
“Love much. Earth has enough of bitter in it.” ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American Author & Poet
~ ω ~
I’ll take my bitter
In the form of bitter herbs
Soothe me, treat me;
My distress, curb.
Chamomile, arugula, wormwood, mint.
Each a cure,
Sublimely sent.
In a drink, yes, I think
Bitter can be grand.
Salty gin, tonic, lime~
Never bland.
I’ll take my bitter with a little dash of sweet.
Combined with love and honey, a real treat.
Grapefruit, lemon, sour grape, wine.
Divine
But I won’t take your bitter, spewed and splattered all about.
If you so choose to live,
Then you
I’ll live without.
And love from a distance.
By Kim Nelson, on June 23rd, 2010%
“What’s the earth
With all it’s art, verse, music, worth–
Compared with love
found, gained, kept?”
~ Robert Browning
Dear Robert,
You got it mostly right. This world ~ with all it’s art, verse, music ~ simply would not be, without love. Love is the root of adornment and adoration. Love is the reason for it all.
Love ~ found, gained, kept ~ is at the bottom of everything worthy of aspiration. Love is the aspiration.
Romantic love, friendly love, passionate love, familial love. Love of the creator. Love for fellow men. Love for loving’s sake.
I AM what I AM, you are what your are, we are who we are… in love, through love, by love, because of love.
Deny love - deny yourself.
Love. The opposite of fear. And we all know the only thing to fear is fear itself.
Think on that for a bit.
By Kim Nelson, on June 9th, 2010%
Yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Hands are the true indicator of a woman’s age.
But let’s get serious…
These Hands
Among other things
Have raised
Babies
Vegetables
Spirits
And Hell
Why wouldn’t I love them?
By Kim Nelson, on June 4th, 2010%
Love.
One of my favorite topics.
I’m big on it.
I’ve been in various stages and ages of love with the same man for nearly 34 years. I loved him intensely way back when. I love him intensely now. We met in high school, went to nearby colleges, and married when barely in our twenties. We had a mortgage at age twenty-five and three babies before I was thirty.
It was those babies, as they grew, developed and became the people they are now, who taught me about the greatness, the hugeness, of love. With each one, I wondered “Could I possibly love another person to the degree that I love this one?” And as each one came into being, I experienced the expanding nature of love. If one is open to the possibility, love is never-ending, unlimited, and I think, eternal. It grows and it grows and it grows, if you let it.
Through some challenging times as the matriarch of a family, I learned, among other valuable lessons, the wonder and truth of unconditional love. I learned that people aren’t necessarily their actions or their choices; and that it’s my duty, indeed my blessing, to love them regardless of the path they walk in the world. This wasn’t an easy lesson. It took staring into the chasm of near-death to soften my heart and my soul. How lucky I am that they did. Selah.
As my children bring others into their lives and into our shared world, my love is extended. How can I not love someone who so clearly loves my child? Or someone my child so deeply loves? It grows this way, love. It extends to others and surprises us with its intensity. The world, I’ve learned, is filled with people I do love, could love, would love.
As I age, I realize and recognize a love that always is, a love that encompasses my essential self. I feel deeply for people I’ve long-known, as well as some I’ve newly met. I feel connected to others in a way that makes me wonder about life here and now, and life in the past and in the future. I consider the possibilities that I knew and loved in another way, in another time and place, in another life and realm. I thrill at the ongoing, undying qualities of love, leading forward and backward across the spectrum of existence.
When inclined to judge or begrudge, I remind myself to love. I’m better in every way when I function this way. I feel love and know it’s what I was created to feel, what I’ve evolved to be, what I AM.
I love Love.
And I love this Erica Jong quote:
“Love is everything it’s cracked up to be… It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.”
So I will continue to fight, and try to be brave, and risk all that I have, for the glory of love. Because it is everything it’s cracked up to be… and then some.
By Kim Nelson, on May 21st, 2010%
“Love is life.
All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.
Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone.
Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.”
~ Leo Tolstoy
Dear Leo,
Did you know that I’m a Leo, too? Yep. Born on August second. Smack dab in the middle of The Leo Zone. I am FULL of Leo-glow… strong, creative and enthusiastic, open-minded, faithful and loving. I’m a little bit dramatic, like to make an entrance, and want to leave an impression.
I can be dogmatic, pompous, and am sometimes patronizing. I’ve been called stubborn and opinionated, and overly idealistic. Although I hate to admit it, I’m a little vain. And I must be boastful since, on occasion, I really do think “It is good to be queen,” while secretly yearning for a ruby-studded tiara. I am uncomplicated. I have few secrets. What you see is what you get.
How is it that I am aware of all these things? How do I so thoroughly understand my assets, flaws and foibles? Simple. You, Mr. Tolstoy were right. We only understand when we are willing to love, and I have learned to love. I’ve benefited from exceptional living examples, numerous historic role models, and a lover and friend who loves me unconditionally. I have learned to love. Not all of us do. How lucky am I? I live love, give love, take love, make love. I AM love. I live. I breathe. I love.
So thank you, Leo, for so famously putting into words what is certainly the universe’s driving force and eternal truth. But I have to say, you and I are also alike in our verbosity. John Lennon put all that in a nutshell. And then in a song. Using only 5 words. “All you need is love.”
And there you have it.
Love to you, Leo!
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