This Music Monday is about LOVE. True, unconditional, amazing LOVE.
I was up this morning at 4:45 AM to get ready to leave Michigan and head back home to Florida. Every time I leave Michigan, I cry. I thought that going there more often would cure it, but no. I thought maybe the cold temps of the past weekend would deter me but NO. It was COLD, in the 20’s….but it was sunny and dry….and bearable. The weather, though not ideal, didn’t make me love Michigan less, it made me love it more. I LOVE the seasons…I love the typography, I love the people, the way they talk. I even love their snotty attitude ( yup Michiganders, you are snotty!) but you know what? It’s hard to smile all the time when you work hard and it’s cold. That’s true. I LOVE Michigan, even on a bad day. Think about this for just a moment. The ugly, miserable winter, makes me love Michigan more? How can that be? The summers, the fall and the spring in Michigan are so STUNNING. However, they wouldn’t be as beautiful, if they were like that all the time. I picture a comparison of Sleeping Bear Dunes, in Northern Michigan, on a hot, clear, summer day, compared to Clearwater Beach on a hot, clear, sunny day. Sleeping Bear wins it hands down. Clearwater beach looks like that all the time, it’s consistent, seems like the easy, more predictable road. However, I think Clearwater beach is BORING, honestly. The point is, Sleeping Bear Dunes wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is, without those rough, cold miserable winters. 900 foot high sand cliffs can only be created in those crazy conditions, from glaciers and ice. You have to take the good with the bad, to get that kind of beauty, and I actually think that Northern Michigan is an example of the fact that the more extreme the beauty, the more extreme the other side can be, the extreme, cold, unbearable winter. It’s worth the other side, to get to that kind of beauty.
I also have a LOVE in Michigan. He’s someone I love unconditionally too. In fact, he’s the person who has officially taught me about LOVE. I never really knew what it felt like. I spent 37 years, being criticized and judged by people who “loved” me, but they really just wanted to control and change me. I remember the first time that I felt like I had shown my weakest side to this amazing man. My first thought was to say “I’m sorry” or ” I didn’t mean it” or ” I can change.” His response? If you didn’t have that side of you, you wouldn’t be YOU. He feels lucky to be with me, even WITH my faults, he actually thinks that my faults are part of what makes me, me, and he LOVES ME. In all my glory, even the “bad side” which is really a good side, if you see it as part of the person that you love. Feeling how good that felt made me want to give that back to him. We all have our moments, within our relationships and love affairs, that make us question our love, or our staying power with that person. I have learned, from my love, that the weakest parts of a person, are what make them the person that you LOVE. It’s not something you desire to fix or change, it’s part of the whole package deal that comes with LOVING someone. I am so thankful that he has taught me this, I will be a better lover, from now forward.
The only thing missing on this trip to Michigan was that I went without my girls. 5 DAYS without my girls, the longest I’ve ever been without them. It was hard for me, didn’t feel right. Some women enjoy being away from their kids and I’ve always felt like I was a bit of an outcast in that, I LOVE BEING WITH MY GIRLS. They are my heart, my soul. Tonight, as I kissed them good night , I thanked each of them, “thank you for letting me be your Mom.” I say that from my soul because I mean it, being their Mom is a privilege and a gift that I’ve been given. I love them UNCONDITIONALLY, no doubt. I never really understood that before I had them. I have always been loved with a long list of conditions attached and couldn’t imagine that I could love in this way. I mean it, no matter what, even if their life turns out to be the worst thing that you can imagine, I will be RIGHT HERE, reminding them that I LOVE THEM. I don’t believe in judging or projecting my opinions about their life onto to them, especially not when things go wrong in their life, which they will! I’m a Mom, lucky me! I’m here to LOVE, to HOLD, to ENCOURAGE, to SUPPORT, to LIFT UP, to KISS, to BELIEVE IN, AGAINST ALL ODDS, to be their BIGGEST FAN, even when all the other fair weather fans have gone away. I have been given the biggest gift that this life has to offer and I will never give up on it. I will never give up on LOVING my girls, they are people that I had the joy of creating, on a physical level, but the joy of their spiritual birth and spiritual growth is my gift and my privilege, I’m just here to guide and protect. LOVE is powerful.
Who has shown you LOVE in your life? Who have you LOVED? I would love a comment or two about the love that you have experienced in your life so far.
It’s crazy the number of songs about LOVE, right? This is one of my favorites…it’s one that I can remember listening to at a very young age and thinking, “I wish someone would love me like that.” I think that I manifested this kind of love! It just took 37 years for the Universe to hear me or for it to believe that I was ready 🙂 He says it’s okay for her to go out and explore the world and look for something better, he just wants the best for her. Why? He LOVES her, unconditionally, doesn’t want to change her or control her, just is willing to let her go and explore and love her regardless.
I’m looking forward to writing my grateful list tomorrow, there is nothing that I’m more grateful for today than LOVE. Enjoy a little Cat Stevens and let me know, in the comments, what you LOVE!http://www.calmchat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/01-Wild-World.m4a