Category Archives: relationship

Love Notes for Change for Good

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“Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better. But because I knew you, I have been changed for good.” —Wicked: For Good

I have always loved a good play on words.
Daughter and I saw Wicked: For Good in the theater today–highly recommend!
As always, it’s the nature, development, and evolution of relationships that captures me.
Friendship, romantic connection, love of all kinds, as well as fear- and shame-based decisions and actions… It’s all on my mind a lot this weekend.

So here on the second to last day of my 11th thirty day blogging challenge, I will explore relationships that change us for good. I’m excited to see what emerges!

  1. Was it a teacher? A special childhood friend? Whoever has changed you and your life for good–why not let them know today? You may not always have a chance.

2. “Like a handprint on my heart.” May you be acutely aware of the mark you make on those you meet. And may the mark be one of love.

3. Even if our encounter is brief, I believe we can impact one another in significant ways. Human connection is so powerful that way. Wield wisely, please.

4. Please know how much you matter – Your posture, your face, your words, your actions – no matter how small. Decide how you want to impact others – then own it. Do good.

5. OH my goodness our potential to impact one another’s lives for good! It’s almost infinite, I think! 😀 May we all be reverent of this power!

6. Wishing you people in your life whose influence makes you a stronger, more aware, more honest version of yourself. I wish this for all of us!

7. I so admire you – for committing to your heart’s desire and trusting yourself to pursue success with confidence! You inspire me.

8. Worthy rivals. Respectful, energetic, alert, and engaging relationships that challenge us to strive, to reach, to grow. May you have at least one great one.

9. May we hold ourselves open and willing for experiences that will change us – that will teach us lessons we may not seek. Life is about learning. Let us all be students.

10. On the highlight reel of your life, may you see repeated and bright scenes of connection and meaning. And may those people remain in your life, in your heart.

11. You push me. You challenge me. I grow through the struggle of our exchanges. You make me question and solidify my convictions. Thank you.

12. Because I know you, I have been changed for good. You think and feel differently from me and I learn from you. These lessons are important.

Well, not as good as I had hoped, but a good effort.
We’re almost to 360, my friends. That’s cool. 🙂

Love Notes for Honesty

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This one will be a challenge, friends. How does one write love notes about honesty without sounding condescending? Most of these will be self-reflection, I think. So I invite my friends to join in exploration and aspiration. Let’s see what happens!

  1. May we always be honest with ourselves first, even and especially when it’s hard. Then we can be honest with others when it matters.

2. Let us hold ourselves compassionately accountable for our biases, prejudices, assumptions, and stubborn narratives. May we own our shit for all our sakes.

3. Telling the truth can be scary and painful. But let us step up and do it anyway, kindly, directly, humanely. Our future selves will thank one another for our moral fortitude.

4. When I show up honest and open, especially facing your passive aggression, I aim to both honor my integrity and earn your respect. It’s all I can do.

5. May your most honest self always have a strong hand on the wheel of your moral car. May the signals and headlights shine bright so others see your integrity clearly.

6. May you experience many times over the benefits and rewards of honesty more than the risks and costs. The net positives outweigh the negatives if we stick with it!

7. I assume you are an honest person. I know it’s really hard to tell the truth in many situations. I respect you for standing in your honesty however possible. Thank you.

8. Ugh, my biases are strong and steer me to the far lanes of human traffic sometimes. How ’bout you? May we be both firmly and gently honest with ourselves.

9. Let us all always combine honesty with empathy, kindness, and compassion, and deliver our truths from love before anything else. Easier said than done; worth the effort.

10. Even when we are honest (which we too often are not), our truths are still only stories we choose to tell. Even we ourselves must take them with a grain of salt.

11. Yes, always be honest. And attend to context. Not every truth is appropriate for every moment. Choose wisely. Protect relationships with kindness and respect.

12. Thank you (for) being kind and discerning in your honesty. It means so much when you take others’ feelings into account when you offer your truths.

Huh. Are they love notes? Do you feel loved reading them? I hope so. 🙂

Love Notes for Homecoming

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Both kids are home for the first time since the nest emptied. I love when they’re at school and I love when they are home. This. Is. AWESOME.
Also, thanks to my lovely friends, their empathic listening and honest reflections, I was able to shift out of ‘you suck’ mode from yesterday and reclaim my better, more loving self today.
The best advice I ever got for mindfulness training was, “Celebrate the return.”
How lovely.
Tonight I celebrate various returns.
Hope you can do the same, my friends.

  1. My dear friend, may your self-love serve you well enough to feel at home in yourself no matter where you go and who you meet. You are you and you are enough.

2. Whenever you venture out into the brave new worlds of life, may you always feel the safety and security of home to come back to.

3. If home is far away, may you have strong and reliable ways to feel connected anytime you need. May you feel home within you always.

4. I know you love me because you always welcome me home to myself and us, no matter how far afield I may fly. Thank you thank you thank you.

5. *sigh* Home. Make it wherever and whatever you need. Make it your base from whence all your life adventures begin. Welcome.

6. Open arms Big hearts Warm food & endless hugs and smiles that feed your soul – May you encounter these at home always.

7. Home is such a special place, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a place. Could be a person or a state of mind. Wishing you to always feel at home.

8. Do you prefer out-and-back or looping trails? Either way you return to the origin, but now having ventured to see somewhere else. Grow for it!

9. Wherever your strong affinity calls you, wherever you know as home, may you access that inner or outer space often and deeply.

10. Whether you have one home or multiple, define home as place, people, or other, may it/they always be welcoming and safe, a refuge for your very being.

11. We all wander off-track sometimes. It’s okay, perfectly normal. May we celebrate when we return to the path. Yes, celebrate the return.

12. Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re home until we leave and come back… The comfort, the familiarity, the peace. Welcome home.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. Three more days of November. It went by too fast! Wishing all of us to walk forth with our tanks a little more full, filling one another’s.