Love As Rebellion
I enjoy reading the blogs of others. Gives me great ideas for posts, essays, programs, life adventures. Yesterday, I visited Judy Clement Wall’s newest site, “It’s A Human Thing,” where she continues her love affair with showing love, especially in her writing. It always feels like she’s hugging the reader with her beautiful words.
J, as she likes to be called, has written a new love manifesto/poem that encourages her readers to choose love. Here are the first four lines:
Choose love.
In your relationships,
in the art you create,
the words you let loose,
the causes you take up,
Observing the world near and far, it’s pretty apparent that folks of all ilks have trouble choosing love. Governments seem to have the worst “choosing love” track records and since they reflect the loving or not loving will of their people, it comes down to the citizens being afraid to show love.
I’m going to join J and try to show love in all I do. It raises my fear goosebumps just thinking about it. But since I love challenging the status quo — it’s right up my doing something different alley — I’m going to give it my best fearless shot. I left a comment yesterday on her site and whatever I said made her proclaim her new adventure to be a “love-filled rebellion.” Naturally, I jumped on that idea for this post.
Here are some ideas:
- The next time someone does something that gets the non-love part of you going, take a deep breath and think of a way you can choose love. Did this person really do something that grievous? I used to get all annoyed with folks and not let it go for way too long. Now, I may still get annoyed, but I try to get over it as quickly as possible, to even seek out that person. I can tell you that a lot of folks will try to nail you to the cross for pretty minor stuff. Not speak to you, erase you from their address book, and complain about you to friends.
- I stand up in my town a lot. If I have to do something that ruffles someone else’s feathers, I do not spend the next couple of months hiding from that person, I put myself in his or her way. I go up and say something non feather ruffling. I try to remember, we’re all in this thing called life together.
- Practice some empathy. Every one of us sees the same situation in a different light. Maybe turn your light down or ask them to turn their light up to see the blended truth in the compromised middle somewhere?
- Ask your government, wherever you live, to stop the name calling and foot stomping demands. It reminds me of gorillas beating their chests in the jungle. Then the shoving starts. We all know where that leads.
- Have mercy on your fellow humans. Life isn’t easy for anyone. As my mother says, “We all have our crosses to bear.” Someone’s life might look good on the outside, but may be a different story on the inside.
How do you fare showing love? Is it hard? Only hard with some folks? Who can you show love to?
Thanks! G.
RSS
Hi Giulietta,
Thanks for another juicy post. I appreciate your bold style. I’ve been working toward being bolder in my life.
I’ve blogged a couple of times about the Occupy Movement as an opportunity to occupy our hearts and make loving choices.
I will gladly join you & J on the love train. All aboard!
Hey Brad,
Glad we’ll all be on the love train together! Congrats on being more bold. Bold=self love in my book. I “love” occupy our hearts. A lot of truth in your phrase. If we did occupy our hearts, more good things would happen. It’s all part of being present in our own lives instead of hanging out in the past and the future. Will check out your site.
Enjoy & thanks, G.
Thank you for the introduction to J…I’m in! I was feeling a bit discouraged because a close friend told me “sometimes a hummingbird is *just* a hummingbird” and I just don’t believe that to be true..everything is as magical as I allow it to be and I believe is a sign when I am open to it..But when I believe and the way I live is often not “mainstream”
So, your love rebellion article is perfect timing as is finding J…:)
Hi Joy,
I thought of you when writing this post. It reminded me of the love effort over at your blog a year or two ago. I took a quick spin. You’ve got a whole new look over there. Looks great!
Am with you on seeing the magic everywhere. I’ve pretty much reclaimed my childhood ability to do that.
Makes everything a lot of fun. Thanks! G.
Oh, G. I love this post.
I agree completely. I think, in politics, it’s hard to choose love. I know from my point of view, the other side seems so heartless and small-minded. I don’t want to talk to them because their point of view makes me crazy. But my pulling back inside myself and yelling at Newt on the television (today’s example of crazy-making behavior) won’t solve anything.
I think you can stand firm in your beliefs and still be respectful, still listen, still try to find areas of compromise (as, I think, you demonstrate in your day-to-day life). Every day, I choose which way to tip the scale… it’s important for me not to fight what I see as ugly with more ugly.
So… that’s the plan this election season.
Hi J!
Politics needs some fierce love. As you point out, both sides screaming at each other gets us to a land called ugly. Deciding where to tip the scale created a neat visual in my head. It also reminds me that we use “the scale” to represent justice and that it’s a balancing act. A third middle party makes sense.
Thanks for the post idea, G.
Yes, fierce is the word. (I can still yell at Newt, though, right?) 😉
Very well said, Giulietta.
Rebellion should always come in the form of love rebellion, even if it’s sometimes so hard to do.
Over the past year, I’ve join j on her journey and it is such a privilege to be able to see a Human Thing come alive and continue on this loving path.
It is all about choices, everything in life, but especially in love.
And I like it so much that I’m able to choose love as my default setting.
Estrella, glad to see you here again!
What a beautiful thought – love as your default setting. Perhaps, you’ll be able to spread that idea across the world. It would solve so many of the problems we face.
Enjoy your continued journey with J …
Giulietta
I try to use the Golden Rule to show love, it works and is a constant reminder to me to try to understand where folks are coming from. When it comes to politics, I have friends that are all over the spectrum and I just state my case if asked and move on.
Lou, I love your attitude toward life!
Can we have a class in school called The Golden Rule? I never heard of that rule until about 15 years ago. Way too long to be wandering around the planet not knowing it.
It’s a great rule to live by. I also like your idea to state your case and move on. I admit that I often fall for the political bait from family members who intentionally say things they know I don’t agree with. Need to work on that!
Thanks, giulietta
Look J and G they are my initials :~)
and such fearless Love ♥♥♥ from you both excited to see how 2012 unfolds
soaring with you all the way
Hi LunaJune,
Neat name! Wonderful of you to stop and leave a trail of love … Will check out your site. G.
Had to share this. I was sitting here thinking, JG? June’s initials are LJ. (Gah! I think it’s time to back away from the sparkly interwebs now.)
Hi Giulietta,
I confess that I made love my default setting; I ended up receiving lots of love of course, but it also brings towards you enough negativity; ever helped someone genuinely when they really needed help, but instead of thanking you they yell at you, Or decide you are their new enemy, go figures why! (maybe they think you are a weak person or something, which is the contrary, but anyway.)
So if I say that I may use conditional love, I mean that, if someone tries to brake or trash a nice offering from me (a help or simply being nice as my usual, with everyone and without any interest) then I find that I give them two other opportunities to accept it from me. Unless the first time was radically unacceptable, second and third chances are just cool. An example is sometimes you become super cool friends with someone who you met in a very bad circumstance and maybe you had a serious disagreement in the beginning… so yes to second chances.
The other type of condition I refer to is, if we are friends; do not do to me what you wouldn’t like anyone to do to you, meaning, love can only flourish in a respectful ambient.
So if you give love to someone who doesn’t respect you at least, or show disdain instead, then it is not safe for you to continue giving love in that situation, it would hurt you in the long run.
Hmmm, I don’t think I am saying anything special at all, it’s just my feel with past experiences I had.
Though, I wish that everyone meets just the most beautiful people, are you lucky enough? 🙂
Have a lovely week and I wish you lots of love too.
J (yes another one lol)
Hi Julien,
Welcome to the blog! I’m interested in your love experiment. You raise a good point that love may not always be met with love. I wonder if that’s a good time to show more love? Not sure, as I’m just venturing into this myself and do not know the outcome. Or maybe we get to the point where the non-love we receive doesn’t phase us anymore? Again, not sure. I do think you’ve said something special here because you’ve shared your own experiences with showing love.
I am meeting lovely people. The more I’ve been able to show love the more loving folks I’ve met. Just getting to this point has taken a lot of living.
Thank you. G.
Love the way you describe Judy Clement Wall’s poetry as “hugging the reader with her words.”
I agree that we should show love and ideally, it should reflect on everything we do. Showing love, empathy, caring has worked for me and brought big dividends in the sense of many wonderful friends, and I can honestly state that my fortune in life has been/is the love surrounding me. However, in latter years, I have realized that I wasted a lot of my love, gave it to people who misused or took advantage of it, which has made me wish that I’d been more discerning, less trusting, and in some cases, less giving.
Love has many faces, most of them good, but a few can be dangerous, devious, or treacherous, and betrayals are devastating.
That does mean to say that I will stop giving or showing love and/or empathy, but perhaps I’ll be less open-handed with it. Love is too precious to waste.
Hi Penelope,
It’s so true that love has many faces. I’m thinking that if we embark on a love rebellion, it comes with good and bad and maybe we show unlove with more? Not sure, just a novice at this!
Thanks, G.