Introducing The #LivetoLoveProject
In response to a year full of reports and images of hate crimes and political bashings, we have felt the need to refocus on the good that is all around us. While we are aware that the darkness in this world is also real, we have just felt the need cling to the light. One of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. sums it up perfectly: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Light and love. These are words that are at times difficult to define, but they are real! In fact, we have been loving Brene Brown’s descriptions of love (as I am sure you may have heard us talk about before- we’re kind of obsessed). She says, “We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known. Love is not something we give or get. It is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can be cultivated between two people only when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.” (Brene Brown, “The Gifts of Imperfection”)
When we sat down and soul collaged the inspiration for our blog, (You can find part of that process and what that means here) we stood back and wrote a list of words. Narrowing the list down to five simple yet meaningful words we came up with: Love, Live, Create, Play, and Become. Then this blog was born… these were the topics we felt inspired to focus on.
Right as we were launching- our lives drastically changed… we both had our babies- one of us- three months before the due date. Between a baby in the NICU, potty training, sleep deprivation, and reprioritizing other areas of our lives, it caused us to put this little blog on hold. 18 months later, we are walking out (somewhat) of the fog and feel we ready to regain the momentum we had with a new little twist inspired by last year’s Olympics.
Last year our family stayed up late watching the Olympics. The tv would turn off and the kids would begin jumping off their bed pretending they were Olympic divers. The “Olympic Effect” was strong in our household and anything and everything seemed to be possible and within reach. We all felt inspired to achieve. We all felt inspired to cheer. We all felt inspired to be on the same team. I began to question: Who would I be if I placed an extreme focus on something for four years like these Olympic athletes do? And to do it as a team?
What if we were to take the next 4 years and place focus on loving more, living more, creating and playing more? Who would we become? What would happen if we took 365 days and just focused on ONE of these words?? What would it do with our relationships with others? With ourselves?
This year- 2017 we are beginning this experiment by taking the year to focus on our first and most important word…LOVE. Cheesy as it may sound, love is truly the foundation of everything. So much so, that it is actually the first two great commandments: “Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself.” Love is a condition of the heart and according to Brene Brown’s research, “Love isn’t something you give or get; It’s something we grow and cultivate. It is something we nurture and grow.” So that is exactly what we are striving for this year…we want to nurture and cultivate this love within us and within our lives. Will you join us?!
We are calling it the #livetoloveproject and for this entire year we hope to engage in at least on daily act of love. You can jump in at any time and it may evolve but here is how you can get involved and take our challenge for right now:
*Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Use the hashtag #livetoloveproject and post experiences you have loving or feeling love from others.
*Share this with others and tag more friends and family members to get involved!
And to make it interesting- each month we will focus on a particular different area of love…
January: we are focusing on: Loving ourselves. Which actually may be the hardest of them all.
February: we will be placing focus on Loving your significant other (and if you don’t have one- exploring that)
March: we are placing focus on loving children. Whether you have your own or you don’t- we are focusing on finding opportunities to love children.
April: we are placing focus on loving others. That means your neighbor, friends, family, strangers…basically everyone!
Then at that point we will see where this journey takes us and go from there…
xo,
Meet the Author: Cristi Dame
Cristi is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in child and parent connection. She has a passion for her family, the outdoors, photography, and mint oreos.