REFLECTIONS OF LOVE

THIS SWEET LITTLE GIRL

THESE GORGEOUS POPPIES THRIVING IN MY YARD

THESE SILLY LITTLE FROGS WITH BUG EYES, LEFT BEHIND BY THE PREVIOUS OWNER

All these things are part of what I find wonderful each day. They are reflections to me of what love is about. It's about family. It's about the beauty that surrounds us each and every day. It's about the small gifts we find tucked away under a bush somewhere (this can be viewed literally as well as figuratively.) It's about what reflects back at me when I think about what I love and who loves me back. Reflections...in them I see a little bit of you and a little bit of me. And hopefully, you can find some great reflections in your life each and every day. So many layers of love. So many different ways to look at things. Each is an opportunity to peel away the layers.

Debbie Ford says that "our shadow thrives when we have secrets....we have a public persona we show the world and a secret life we keep hidden. We construct a secret life in order to hide the parts of ourselves that we're most ashamed to face." (Page 109...The Shadow Effect). I imagine that is true for me as well as other people. I pride myself in being truthful and yes, sometimes I have hurt others by saying what is on my mind. But, if the truth be known, it was always out of caring. Perhaps my intentions were good but the way that I went about it was not. Into the shadows I sank, I suppose.

But, as I took these pictures this morning, it was all about light, not shadows. It was all about love, not hate. It was all about beauty. Sometimes I just  have to remind myself about the core of things in my life. These are the things that really matter to me. Does anything get accomplished or resolved if you don't come out of the shadows? It's those secrets that we think we need to keep hidden that can sabotage our lives. Debbie's solution? "...to free ourselves from the unmanageable compulsions that cause us to live a secret life, we must find healthy ways to express our repressed aspects so that we can be safe from behaviors that can sabotage our life."  Gardening anyone?