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it is an ever-fixed mark . . .

I’ve had reason, lately, to be thinking much about love and how necessary to life it is, as necessary as food to eat, air to breathe. Like the unbroken thread of the Celtic triquetra knot, all love, but especially that between two people who have made a commitment to each other, is made up of not only love, but also trust, and respect. Each lobe holds within itself so many aspects and expressions: caring, compassion, concern, empathy, and ~ for lovers, especially ~ a kind of selflessness that cares more for the other’s well-being than for one’s own.

Love that not only desires and takes pleasure in, but also holds and cares for the lover when he or she is sick, and soothes and heals when he or she is sick at heart. Trust in each other so sure that, when one is confused, afraid, or doesn’t know what to do, seeking out the other, in the sure and certain knowledge of his or her complete attention and concern, is always the first action or reaction. Respect that causes each to hold him or herself to a level of honesty, fidelity, and devotion to the other that is absolute and impenetrable. Take away any one of those lobes and neither of the others can stand ~ sooner or later, the whole will collapse.

St. Paul explains it thus:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Like the thread of the triquetra, love is the one unbroken golden thread that runs through our lives, connecting us all, each to the other ~ lover to lover, parent to child, grandparents, siblings, cousins, friends ~ all are bound by that golden thread. Unhappily, it is not always smooth and bright, is indeed often tarnished and tangled in knots so complex and pulled tight they can never be undone, can never be made straight again, but must just be left as they are, the true end of the thread, beyond the tangled knot, found again and followed. Sometimes that true end is the same for both, but sadly, sometimes it is not.

“Love is not love /Which alters when it alteration finds, /Or bends with the remover to remove: /O no! it is an ever-fixed mark/That looks on tempests and is never shaken.”

Like a New England rock wall that has stood for hundreds of years, or those stone jetties that jut out into the sea of the north Atlantic coast, true love endures. Storms may rage, winds may blow, snow and ice may cover, but all those things are as ephemeral as autumn leaves, while the stones beneath, each supporting and being supported by the others, remain.

With such sorrow, I’m seeing again, among people I love, the death of what was meant to be a life-long commitment ~ because they never had that rock wall to support them. Only one of the two truly loved as both the Bible and the Bard have defined it. The other, over a long period of time and despite the patience and repeated forgiveness and determination of the one who truly loved, managed to wear that true love away, bit by bit, tiny piece by tiny piece.

The one, instead of  helping the other to build a stone wall of enduring love that would support them both, indulged in incidences large and small, of indifference, neglect, and selfishness, betrayal and abuse, one after the other after the other ~ like water dripping on a stone, each small impact pulverizing a minute part that was then washed away, until the ever-fixed mark has been all but obliterated.

I will never understand people who, for the gratification of the moment, will neglect those most essential and life-sustaining gifts of love freely given.

Everyone deserves to be loved so, and to know the over-flowing joy of truly loving that person in return. I wish it for all of you ~

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Samhain, summers end, and new beginnings

Reach for the moon ~ even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.It is the month of Halloween ~ All Hallow’s Eve ~ Samhain ~ and one of my favorite holidays. Originally, Samhain was like New Years Eve or New Years day for the Celts, it was the beginning of the Celtish new year, as it signaled the end of the “light” time of the year and the beginning of the dark time, during which the earth would rest and refresh herself for the coming again of the light in spring.

It’s a nice marker for me, this year, too, of new beginnings, particularly those having to do with success, prosperity, and looking toward the future with sure belief rather than so much fear and dread.

I launched my first plr site and packs today (that’s private label content, in Internet Marketing speak), and posted a Warrior Special Offer in the Warriors Forum ~ which is THE place to go for everything you ever wanted to know about Internet Marketing. As I understand it, it’s one of the longest running and most successful IM forums out there, largely, I think, because it’s well moderated, the moderators are actively involved, and they brook no nonsense from scam artists and the like. Intentionally break the rules or try to take advantage of people and you’re out.

I like that. It makes me feel like it’s a safe place, even though I often just lurk because I find all the “voices” overwhelming ~ especially the ones that are talking about something I know nothing about.

But then I knew almost nothing when I joined the Warriors Forum and the War Room, and now I know quite a bit more. It all just takes time. No one comes from the womb knowing how to do . . . anything, really. Everything takes time and some effort and patience (which I’ve already admitted I’m not really good at ;-)).

And yet here a I am, with two active, viable websites Renaissance Woman Ink and now, PLR-Ink, not a lot to show for the two years or so it’s taken me to get here, some people may be thinking. Isn’t it? And how old would I be if I hadn’t pursued the elusive firefly of IM success these last two years?

Two years isn’t that long for looking and learning and planting and germinating, because these sites are just evidence to me, intimations of things as yet unseen. These are just the first seeds of the future I envision starting to break the surface ~ the early signs of the fruits my efforts will ultimately bear, thanks to time and patience.

And, of course, believing.

‘becca

“Our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams, our ideas ~ are physical in the universe . . . . If we dream something, and if we commit ourselves to it, that is a physical thrust toward realization . . . . you have to believe . . . .” ~ Will Smith

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Good omens

I always dream in the mornings before I wake up ~ I’m sure I dream through the night, but always in the morning, and usually, my dreams aren’t great ~ maybe not nightmares, but usually uneasy or confusing, adding nothing to my day. Because that’s so, I’ve always erased my dreams upon waking, wiping them away like a sponge washing chalk from a blackboard, getting rid of them if I can, so they don’t follow me into my day, uneasy shadows.

This morning, however, I did my best to hold on to my waking dream so I could share it with you. The last part of the dream, I was taking my youngest daughter, Colleen, to the doctor (don’t think I’ve forgotten, missy). Though he’s been retired for some years now, I took her to our family doctor, and the two of them were  having a great time and giving me static about something (which both of them have always been good at, I must say).

Then, after we got back, Colleen needed to go somewhere else, and asked if she could use my car. I said sure, but I needed it back at a certain time. She said, okay, but why? Then Josh, my son (who, I suddenly noticed, was sitting in the living room eating pizza and watching TV) said: “because she does, doofass.”

He suddenly stopped eating, got a goofy surprised look on his face and said to Colleen: “did I just call you a ‘doofass’?” and then started in with that chuckle of his I love so much, and Colleen started laughing, like the two of them used to when they were teenagers, in that way that you know is going to build like a wave crest, and I woke up actually laughing, myself.

Is there any better way to start the day or the week than that?

Not for me, there isn’t.

Here’s wishing you your own good omens to carry into the this autumn Monday.

<3