CONLEE RICKETTS-Author, Educator, Awkward Human Being!
  • Home
    • More About Me
  • Blogging!
  • Contact & Follow Me
  • Media/Events
  • Fun Stuff!

L is for Love by Conlee Ricketts #atozchallenge

4/14/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
is for Love

I entered an essay contest once about “love.” The problem I had was that the contest asked us to write about a time we learned the meaning of love.  The more I thought about it the bigger and more confusing the word love became to me.

I was spinning! Which kind of love?  Unconditional love, conditional love (I remember learning about this one really well) romantic love, true love, lasting love, platonic love, brotherly love, sisterly love, parental love, love of oneself.  This list kept on growing with love as the base but the actual experiences of each love being so very different, and each with their own very different attached lesson.

I couldn’t articulate what I meant into my contest entry, Willie’s Home, so I wrote about trying to teach an aspect of love instead.  The essay is HERE if you want to read it.  It didn’t win, but it is one of my favorite memories of writing losing essays.

Honest feelings of love are of course wonderful sensations. They are a wonderful place to live.  Any aspect of love, any version of love, and any honest moment of sharing love is important.  I no longer worry about finding romantic love—I missed that boat.  I choose to focus on motherly love, the love I extend friends in need, and my ability to demonstrate love by accepting others and circumstances without judgment.

It seems to me that learning about love is a lifelong activity.  I didn’t understand unconditional love or how that truly felt until I was 38 when my daughter was born; having a no strings attached love for another human being blew my mind.

I am still learning about selfless love as I watch other giving so much of themselves expecting nothing in return.  To have learned how that feels though, I don’t think I’m there yet. 

I don’t have any sisters so I will never learn exactly how that love feels—not in this lifetime anyway—and that’s okay. 

I am working on the loving of oneself thing, it has been very hard, but I can honestly say that right now as of today, I still do not know how that love feels.  I imagine it to be this awesome wave of love, similar to unconditional, that will just wash over me one day when I least expect it.  I am guessing it will be life-changing and will open me up to other kinds of love in the process, but I’m just not there yet and that is also okay.

Love is big enough to keep on teaching me for the rest of time.



2 Comments
Damyanti link
4/13/2014 11:55:22 pm

It seems to me that learning about love is a lifelong activity. --Absolutely, completely, true.

Reply
S. Katherine Anthony link
4/15/2014 06:22:35 am

Learning about love certainly is a lifelong activity...just too many different ways for everyone (and passions) in our lives. But I think you hit the nail on the head: loving oneself is probably the hardest of them all. Sigh.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Author
    Conlee Ricketts

    I write to steady myself, discover myself, and forgive myself.  Writing reaches into those places that need love and attention in my inner world in order to balance my outer world.  I hope you enjoy. 

    Picture
    CLICK THE PIC to check out my articles with MLTS
    Picture

    Archives

    November 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    August 2019
    May 2018
    March 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    Acceptance
    Adolescents
    Amazon Reviews
    A To Z Blogging Challenge
    Being Kind
    Breathing To Relax
    Coffee
    Conflict Resolution
    Courageous Parenting
    Disney
    Divorce
    Ego
    Empathy
    Faith
    Fear
    Finding Answers
    Finding Joy
    Generosity
    Generosity Of Spirit
    Grief
    Humor
    Imagination
    Journey To Self
    Kindness
    Learning To Love
    Lock Down Drills
    Lonliness
    Love
    Loving Kindness
    Meditate
    Meditation
    Middle School
    Mothers And Daughters
    Mother's Day
    New Authors
    New Teachers
    Parenting
    Poetry
    Practicing Peace
    Respect
    Seeking Help
    Self Discovery
    Single Mom
    Single Parent
    Sitting Meditation
    Teaching
    Trust
    Trusting Yourself

2020 Conlee Ricketts All Rights Reserved
                              email me: conlee@conleericketts.com
Photos used under Creative Commons from joiseyshowaa, Sunshine Lady !, SenseiAlan, Hamed Saber
  • Home
    • More About Me
  • Blogging!
  • Contact & Follow Me
  • Media/Events
  • Fun Stuff!