Let Go and Embrace

My Dear Readers,

An unexpected extra "Hello" from me to you this week. Some time ago I decided not to fill up your inbox with my Monday Quotes and Thursday Blogettes every single week and to switch to every other week. Once in a while I've launched a campaign around topics like self-care and others so important to me and sent it out during an off week. If I find something that helps me cope and get through a day, I like to share. I'm always on the lookout for ways to create a better world because that's where I want to live. To that end, I'm posting this extra edition of my MQ and Blogette.

Full disclosure -- while I am incredibly grateful for all the wonder, delight, and goodness in my life, I have also found myself floundering in doubt and dismay at times this year. Last week I wrote about loving what feels unlovable and extending that to struggling with self-love. At first I was happy with the post, but a day or two later I knew I needed more and I decided that if that's how I was feeling, maybe you were too!

While looking for some "comfort and joy" I decided to clean out my inbox in hopes that it would make me feel better, more "accomplished". I couldn't tell what was specifically bothering me (maybe everything?!?) and so, I started there. Bam! I got all the way back to February (what? you don't have favorite emails you've saved from nine months ago??) and found a very special message from a friend and all around fabulous person, Leah Fisch (joumor.com). She started her email with a quote from the singer/performer Kristin Chenoweth:

"If you can learn to love yourself and all the flaws,

you can love other people so much better.

And that makes you so happy."

Leah went on to say: "... what would happen if we infused ourselves with love in all we do? In Joumor we say The Greatest Clutter is Self-Judgment. If we removed the negative judgment of ourselves and those around us we'd find:

Movement in stagnation
Clarity of action
Hope
Freedom

I invite you to choose love, positivity and action." Oh, this was exactly what I was looking for. This was validation for seeking eagerness and willingness, and this was consent. There is so much going on in our world today and it doesn't help that we have access to every little thing, good or bad, almost at the same moment that it happens. The final message I got from Leah was: "If you want to 10X your productivity this year, start tracking your non-loving thoughts, first about yourself and then about others. Guaranteed, you waste a tremendous amount of brain space, time and energy here. Removing this will open up opportunities for confident action, clutter-free connection and an overall improved state of being." Whether it's productivity or just wanting to feel better, the message here is to Let Go and Embrace. Our ongoing judgement of ourselves and others does not serve us. Our desire and readiness to love, even when there are flaws, will pave the way through whatever confronts us. As I wrote last week, this is not a call to allow for what is unacceptable, but a nudge to bring love to even the most unpalatable, unappealing situations because this will heal the world. One more note ... I could not thrive nor even survive without certain communities that hold and support me. One of the best of these is my Mama Gena (mamagenas.com) connection. Just this week I was reminded by her that while love has a great capacity for good, unfortunately it can sometimes be falsely and confusingly used as an excuse for bad behavior. Finding love through pleasure and approval is the guarantee. When we tap into pleasure, we become incapable of being unkind or unaccepting. Looking into the mirror and repeating, "I love and approve of myself" and then finding something that soothes us and pleasures us helps us to spread that loving energy. This is what I wish for you.