Love is non-negotiable
I started blogging two and a half years ago and the number #1 lesson I have learned from blogging is that love is non-negotiable.
Before I discovered blogging I hoped that somewhere there was a purpose for my life, a meaning beyond getting up every day and going to work; eating, sleeping – bodily functions that are mentioned in advertisements but never in polite company – and everything else that makes up a life from cradle to grave.
I’ve written 1,600 posts so far but only have 360 posts currently in the archives. I am an avid pruner of my thoughts, not only for future books, but because links and ideas become outdated. I’ve never been a person that looks back with nostalgia, the past is gone and so is the person who wrote the words. The poetry, the pictures and the deep emotional posts I’ve mostly kept but the topical writings are eventually deleted.
I’ve also had about 30,000 comments and about 160,000 visits and within those comments I’ve found that somewhere I was seeking. It’s in the comments such as Riccie’s recent comment on my post: “I Detest Labels”.
“I’m choked up, Brian…really. Where do you find your strength? As I am working through the mental health system…you wrote that you have frequent thoughts of death. HELLO. I wonder if there has ever been any poll taken from adult survivors of abuse…how many of us think of death all the time? How many of us have suicide so close to the edges of our consciousness…how many of us must control and dispense those thoughts to the furthest reaches of our minds… I’m so happy to have come across this post. Happy…and sad. Make sense?”
Love is non-negotiable because as I blogged I realized that I loved many of the bloggers I met on-line. I realized love is non-negotiable when I first met bloggers in person and they showed me love in return. I realized after a long, bitter internal struggle, that love is non-negotiable when I found I was capable of receiving love.
No matter what else happens the rest of my life, I will always know that somewhere in the world I am loved. That is what I have learned from blogging.
Blessing~ 1991-2008
We are going to take this upcoming holiday weekend off, not only to relax, but to prepare for Hanna if the storm comes near Florida.
Have a great weekend everyone and give a thought for those people in Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and elsewhere in the path of Gustav.
Love is non-negotiable and has to be unconditional. No matter what…
Great post, Brian. However, I don’t expet anything less from you…
I am truly honored, Brian. Truly. And…thank you for correcting my spelling. I knew I spelled poll incorrectly…but couldn’t get my brain to function enough to figure out the right spelling. LOL! I love you dearly, my friend. And, thank you for the invite. We are making massive preparations now…and we do have a safe place to go. Although our ‘safe place’…a friend of ours nice big brick home…just so happened to be in path of Hurricane Lilly a few years back. We would have been better off had we stayed home! You never know with these nasty little creatures called hurricanes. Florida has already suffered enough…and the season is still young. Glad to know yall are ok.
This morning…I am trying to wake up…gotta take morning meds…then continue with the prep. The yard was mowed yesterday. In fact, nearly our entire neighborhood mowed their grass yesterday. It seems to be some sort of ritual. When we believe a hurricane is coming our way, the first thing the men do is haul out the lawnmowers and cut the grass. Weird. Does that happen your way as well? I find it amusing. Maybe doing that gives them time to thing about the next round of preparations they are going to do. On my list today: appointment with Social Security for disability, wash clothes, visit the store for the neccessities such as water, water, more water, batteries, fuel for the coleman stove…ya know. All the things we gotta do. Also refill my ‘scripts. For now…I’m taking a break. It’s overwhelming. And I’m watching the news. (((Brian))) Love ya, sweetie!
so beautifully put,, and something i too am grateful for every day… just so you know… you are on my love list…..
Great post, Brian. I’ve been overawed myself by this blogging thing. After so long writing seemingly for myself, it was a great somewhere, that’s for sure.
Brian — I was just marveling the other day at how kind and generous and, yes, loving, we are to one another on the net — at the same time the news is talking about greater violence, less bonding, no time for friendships, etc. It’s like two different worlds — but they’re both populated with the same people! How does that work?!
Oh, yes, I know what you mean about the propping up we get from our blogging friends. It has helped me be more secure in my writing. Before blogging, I shared my poems with very few people. Now, I feel like I’ve made new friends and am not as reluctant to put myself out there.
Great post!
My (((Darling))),
You are so very deeply loved at home, as well.
OXOX D
((((((((((Brian))))))))))
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nrxgqhrNnXg&feature=related
Thanks everyone for the love.
Been very hot and busy at work this week, no, no love action, just muggy and sweaty.
I’ll be updating the Gustav and Hanna posts through the weekend. Ricce, you be safe girl and get out of there.
Love is unconditional as Gautami said. And yes blog love is something I have experienced too. It’s all the more touching because that person has never met me, and loves me through my posts. I am grateful for it. Love is something that should never be thrown away, or taken for granted.
Brian, yes, you are.
To answer Riccie, yes, I do. It’s there in the back of my mind all the time. Has been for as long as I can remember.
Anyway, have a good weekend. Beautiful, perfect weather here!
Great post. I depend on my blogging mates for feedback and support and read about everyone else’s thoughts via Sunday Scribblings.I can’t wait to go through the list on sundays and comment and see if anyone out there answers me. Then there are my regular blogs I read too. Love & support indeed.
I have met some wonderful friends on the net – for me love is about acceptance , spme thing that happens so little in the real world
thanks Brian for popping by
“I will always know that somewhere in the world I am loved.”
One of the joys that keeps many of us going. Thanks for the post.
What a brilliant thing to learn from blogging. I hope it proves a strong lifeline for you.
You are most definitely loved, and absolutely worthy of love! Through blogging I found so much strength, love, hope, and encouragement from my friends, and those who had shared in my struggles. I don’t keep my blog up as much as I’d like these days, but I stop by from time to time because of my friends. I have a handful of friends that I’ve made through blogger, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Thank you for being one of them! *hugs and love*
Blogging has helped me learn what I love, too. That’s part of what makes it fun. And I adore learning about what others love, too.
You can add CA to “somewhere.”
XXOO Be safe you two!
yes yes and yes again…
an amazing amount of writing, posts, comments and views!! congratulations!
Thanks everyone for all your comments on this post sandwiched between the hurricanes. Went away for the holiday weekend for some R&R.
An inspiring post, Brian. Thank you!
Add Jordan too!!! {{{{HUGS}}}} that is a hurricane hug
I wonder what life would have been like for prior generations had they had the ability to reach out to and/or receive from people away from their small circle to find love, acceptance, and appreciation exist somewhere and in such large quantity.