Every Day Is Love Thursday

It always has been.  But of course, you know this.  You have known it all along.  (Click photo to enlarge.)

Karen and Irene, the instigators of the Love Thursday game, have decided to call it quits for now.  There will be no more organized Love Thursday unless someone else picks it up.

I am not sad.  I am grateful.

As you know if you can see my sidebar at right with the colorful logo at the top, I recently participated in something called Blogging Against Disablism Day.  When I signed up (tentatively), I told Goldfish (the person organizing it):

I have a hang-up about 'blog against' days, kind of the way I had a hang-up about Yom Kippur when I was a practicing Jew. Why just one day a year, I wondered back when I was a Jewish child? Why not atone right when you realize you've F'ed up and strive every day to be a better person? Similarly, aren't all my posts blogging against disablism by their very nature? Well, aren't they? Besides, who cares what I'm against; doesn't what I'm for really matter more in the long run? And again, doesn't what I'm for really count as being against disablism fundamentally?

Love Thursday has not been a "blogging against" day; we who have participated have not been blogging against hate, or indifference, but about love, because of love, for love.

Still, this is the same thing.  This blogging about love one day a week, it's the same thing.  Every day we live, we live about love.  Every day we blog, therefore, we blog about love.  So why take a special day and call it "Love Thursday"?  Has this really been necessary?

I can't speak for other participants, only for myself.  And I will tell you, yes, it has been necessary, for me.  It just worked out that way.  When this started, or at least when I finally decided to start participating, I happened to be in a great deal of pain.  Taking one day a week to stop and think for a moment about the specifics of my love, even though it was largely love that was causing me all that pain, has been a very healthy exercise, a growth exercise, and one I honestly wouldn't have thought of if Karen and Irene hadn't proposed it for their own reasons.  I do suspect that a lot of people who have participated in this would say the same -- maybe not specifically the same, and maybe not quite as long-windedly or circuitously, but something that boils down to the same thing.

It boils down to "Yes, I have needed this," and "Thank you."

Thank you very much, Karen and Irene, and everyone who participated in this game.  Spring came early in my heart this year partly because of this exercise, just because thinking about those who own my heart, who have always owned my heart, and those to whom I would still give it, and how, and why, opened me up like a pair of french doors and invited spring in -- yes, in December, even while I sat victimized by hormones and grief and ranted about marketing vs. love and the loss of chocolate's innocence.   (Click photo  to enlarge.)

And spring accepted.  In December.  My inner doors cracked open, so it stuck a toe in and began the work of warming me, then and there.

Whether I continue this specific exercise in the future or not, I think it -- and this springtime of my heart, and this practice of consciously inviting and welcoming it, of contemplating love as its own thing, not just taking it for granted as part of my breath -- is going to stay with me a long time.

I don't have anything to give you in return.  Just love and flowers. (Click to enlarge.)

And of course, I would have given those anyway.  At least, I would have wanted to.

Happy Love Thursday, everyone.  Happy Love Everyday.

Comments

[Chookooloonks]

Wow.

That was so kind. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.

Happy Love EVERYDAY to you, too.

[pilgrimgirl]

Happy Love Everyday to you, too! Love the flower pictures, btw! Just love them!

[sognatrice]

So true, all of this. I found that making myself think of love for a post on Thursdays really had me thinking about my blessings all the time, or at least more than I would have otherwise I think. It was great to be part of such a wonderful group for the time I was, and quite honestly, I don't know if I'll stop posting my entries--but I do know I won't stop being reminded of simple, pure expressions of love, and for that I'm most grateful.

*Love* the flowers; happy LT and LE ;)

[bonggamom]

What a beautiful tribute to Irene, Karen and Love Thursday. You echo the sentiments of many in the blogosphere.

[Sara]

Thank you, ladies.

Karen (Ms. Chookooloonks herself), one thing I learned from reading Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and later from various life experiences, is that there are two things you just can't say too often: "Thank you," and of course "I love you." So, really, thank you. And -- in a completely non-creepy, non-stalkerish way, of course -- I love you. I love the parts of yourself that you have shared with all of us and your obvious generosity of spirit. It's been a real pleasure to play with you this little game you devised, and I truly believe it did a lot of people a lot of good.

Jana (pilgrimgirl), thank you! You know I love your flower pictures, too -- and bug pictures! Bees! Dragonflies! What next? Very beautiful.

Karen writes of making the internet a restful place, and making our own little pieces of it restful pieces. I am not a restful person, so I'm never going to be able to commit to that, but I do feel that the internet has room not just for barrooms where brawls break out but also for tea gardens where people can enjoy conversation both light and intense, silly stories and revelatory discourse about important things like love, death, science, politics, and religion, tell their truths and listen to others -- and also have a nice little nosh and look at some pretty flowers while the kids and pets play. I can commit to making that kind of space, and I think you already have.

Sognatrice, I would not even have met you had it not been for Love Thursday. See, Karen? Something else to thank you for.

Bonggamom, thank you. I thought other people might feel similarly. And you are yet another lovely person I only met through this endeavor. Plus, now I know what a "bongga mom" is! Bonus! :)

See? There are lots of things I complain about, but when I get a gift, I know it. I think keeping that facility alive is what this kind of exercise does best.