Practise love through words

Every human being on the planet is capable of feeling love and of showing love. The ways we do so are what makes us unique and individual yet common and human.

We can all show love through our physical actions and reactions or we can show our love through our written words, musical melodies or monuments we create.

I do not know of any writer that has not on some level in at least one of their written pieces, been influenced by their own life. Perhaps it is a long lost love that fuels their prose, or perhaps it is a love that cannot be entertained in this lifetime. Sometimes it is loves that are lost and other times it is loves that have never been found.

As a society we have placed rules on what is right or wrong or acceptable and those "guidelines" can hold people as surely as if they are hanging in a noose. Some loves cannot or should not be shared if you follow the rules to be liked, accepted and in some cases remain out of jail or even alive.

Yet when you write, you can explore all of these situations, good and bad and create the reality of how you want it to be. You can explore the mistakes and make them right, you can create opportunities to share love where there were none before. You can dream up endings that are worth even a moments breath of a beginning.

I know for myself each of my novels has offered me a time, a place, a person and an opportunity to explore and even change a situation that I had felt was unfinished. In my own mind, making peace with the situation was my way of showing and practising love through my words. It may not ever mean anything to anybody else but it makes the difference to me and that is enough.

I am sure that for as long as I write, I will find ways to show those that I love, that have influenced my life and my heart, how much they mean to me. Perhaps it will be a glimpse of an experience we once shared, a dream we thought of together or even just a recap of a perfect sunset.

I think including real life "momentos" for those that are in our hearts is part of what makes our writing reach other people. They can recognize their own love and heart condition and maybe it makes them smile or feel not quite so alone in this world.

Isn't that what we all want? To be known, to be heard and valued. To be able to share the goodness and love we have, no matter how it makes us feel now? To know that our experiences are not unique enough that no other human has not been there before us, to know that no pain is enough to overturn us on our path? To know that we can find comfort, solace and love - even if it is by just reading someone elses words.