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Love is Not on My List

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Written by Karen D. Swim

Kolapore Ski Trail Through the Pines
Image by Bobcatnorth via Flickr

This week I sent a message to my LinkedIn connections.  I am not one to clutter email boxes and in the many years I have been on LinkedIn have never sent a group message. However, I realized there were so many people in my network with whom I never connect. I sent a message thanking them for being part of my network and wishing them a happy month.

One of the responses filled my heart with sadness, although offered tongue in cheek, for it revealed what is reality for so many people.  In part it read:

I have got into my office as usual, and normally I am so busy I can’t be bothered to check out the numerous messages I get which often have no relevance to work.

AND, you’re right, in a months time we celebrate LOVE……good old Mr Valentine. The subject that most of busy people don’t put enough thought into.

Kindest,
Signature removed for privacy

P.S.  Yes, I hope my blinking February IS filled with lots of love!

In a month that finds Joanna pausing to enjoy working in the garden, Robert walking hand in hand with Mrs. MZM, Ulla twirling through the muse yard,  and Friar zig-zagging down the slopes I find it sad that some are missing out on the small moments of life.

Are you like Amy who will abandon the wash to dance in the meadows? Or are you far too busy checking things off your list to engage in a bit of frolic? I could offer the trite retort that “life is too short” but you already know that don’t you?

If you’re happy filling your days with lists, tasks and work, then rock on but if you’re not….stop…look…listen…feel…live.

Are you living life or is it living you?

Thursday Love List

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Comments

  1. Hey Everyone! Sorry for the tardiness in responding but I have been plagued with technical issues! My poor hosting company after years without a single issue had two outages and an emergency upgrade. Add my own power outage and technical burps and well…I really do appreciate the discussion and will be back participating soon!

  4. Ah, yes, I am happy with my lists.

    Had snowboarding on the list for Val-Day, but had to scratch it off the list because of the results of the budget list, and now have etched in its place a special gluten-free donut party. Very exciting to me.

    Per the comments section…

    I am in the singles writer club too and I have to say, I like Valentine’s Day much more being single than in a relationship. When you are in a relationship, you have all these stupid expectations for the day and might end up having a turd day. But as a single person, you have no expectations, other than it sucking, so it can only get better.

    I have made crazy delicious chocolate truffles full of spices and liquor for my loved ones (family and friends), just gave a bunch to my parents (and ate way too many), mailing out the rest Monday. Single people remember all the other people and can better spread the joy instead of focusing on only one person.

    ScreenwritingforHollywood´s last blog post..Black History Month: African American Auteurs in Cinema

  5. Karen,

    I do hope my blinking February is filled with lots of love. 🙂 And every other month, too. If I keep hoping, one of them will be, and in the meantime, I don’t get too worked up about it.

    When it’s not filled with romantic love, I fill it with the love of friends, my daughter and family, and nature, quite happily.

    I know some folks aren’t looking, and I keep meaning to take it off my list… but I guess it’s part of loving everything else for me. I’m never going to be a fan of pink hearts and gushy poems, but I am a fan of love. Loving love keeps me open and laughing, feeling and living.

    Regards,

    Kelly

    Kelly´s last blog post..Are You as Essential as Morning Coffee?

  7. As almost everyone I know online and offline, I am a quite busy person. Yes, emails, tasks, lists etc. I don’t always get to reply to all non-work emails I’d want to send a few words to. But I always am thankful for emails like yours that break the routine and make me stop to think of something else. I never imagined one could ever send such a reply to your linkedin email. We should really enjoy something else besides what seems critical right now. Usually, we can very well live without it. But without the people we relate to, we can’t really survive, we are way too sociall.

    Alina Popescu´s last blog post..SEO School – Learning and laughing at the same time

  8. Love that question, Karen: Are you living life or is it living you?
    As you know I received a wake-up call this week – trudging to the shops, resentful and grumpy – only to be awestruck by nature’s glory. And while I didn’t formulate that exact question – I was too gobsmacked to think, to be honest! – it is the one that resonates with me when I reflect back on that experience. Thank you, Karen, for your clarity and your thoughtfulness. Always appreciated.
    Amy
    xx

    amypalko´s last blog post..E-Book Review: The Complete Guide To Vision Boards

  9. Love is a verb.

    😉

    And a choice.

    I’ve been reading the past few posts and liking them. I keep coming back . Pausing. I want to spend some time with them, savor the thoughts behind them a bit. But I need to sketch so these will be with me as I do. Tumbling thoughts about love around while I sketch…not a bad thing at all.

    Janice Cartier´s last blog post..Blue Skies

  10. Hi Karen, sometimes I wonder about the decisions I’ve made in my life – losing security, structure, income, ‘success’… but then thank goodness I’ve done it so I have time to listen to the birds, to notice a woodpecker in my garden, to see the hills glowing red as the sun sets on the snow…

    All of which is a form of love.

    There’s a post on JJL today about love being all round which kind of fits with that idea.

    @Friar also being single and also being nauseated by Valentine’s schmaltz… I know just what you mean. But there are many different forms of love – with friends, parents, places, children, siblings, people we get to know on t’ internet… and I try and focus on them rather than the narrow romantic version

    Joanna Young´s last blog post..Audacious Faith in the Future

  11. @Robert, I love that imagery! Cheers back! 🙂

    @Friar, remember I’m single too! I have another story I almost posted today about that but didn’t want to make people cry. The good news is we’re single but still have full lives and at this time of year there’s lots and lots of chocolate. 🙂

  12. I look at the constant bombardment in the stores and media about Valentines Day, and I say “Bah Humbug!”.

    As a single guy, I just couldn’t care less. We single people are totally excluded from Feb. 14th. Like I said, Bah Humbug.

    Your post today made me feel better. It was a nice reminder that there are other things in life than just being coupled up with someone. You’re right….I try to get as many moments of frolic and fun when I can. Being single ain’t too bad. 🙂

    Friar´s last blog post..4 Minutes and 22 Seconds of Down-Time.