Living Wisdom Arts · Spoken reflections
Love Notes
A little company
for being human.
Make a cup of tea. Settle in and listen.
Spoken reflections and small practices for love, discernment, and the joy of being alive.
from Dina
Start here: Love Without Leaving Yourself · 9:53
Explore the reflection and small practice ↓
Choose the note that speaks to where you are today.
Love Note 01 · 9:53
Love Without
Leaving Yourself
Make room for connection while staying close to yourself.
Link to this note ↗A question to carry with you
What would staying close to myself look like today?
A small practice
Before your next yes, give yourself a moment to ask: Do I want to? Am I able to? What would this require of me?
See whether there is a yes, a no, or a more honest version of the invitation you can offer. Let your answer include you.
Read a companion reflection
A written reflection on this theme, to read at your own pace.
Someone asks something of you, and your yes arrives before you have checked whether you mean it. Later, you feel tired, irritated, or strangely absent from your own life.
Caring about another person and including yourself in the conversation can happen together. Your needs are part of the relationship. So are your limits, your wishes, and the things you are still figuring out.
A boundary can be specific and kind: “I want to hear what’s happening. I have twenty minutes this evening.” Or: “I care about this, and I’m not able to take it on.” You can let the other person have a response without immediately changing your answer.
Love Note 02 · 10:02
What Is Truly
Indicated?
Take in the whole situation and discover what it calls for.
Link to this note ↗A question to carry with you
What becomes clearer when I include the whole situation?
A small practice
Consider what is happening, what you want, the patterns you have seen, and what remains unknown. Include your values, capacity, timing, and the likely consequences.
Then listen to your body. Ask: “What is truly indicated, given everything that is happening?” Let the answer have room to emerge. Sometimes the next step is to gather more information.
Read a companion reflection
A written reflection on this theme, to read at your own pace.
A message arrives. Someone is disappointed. A plan changes. Before you have taken a breath, a familiar response may already be offering its services: explain, fix, defend, agree, disappear.
That response may have a good reason for being there. You can listen to what it is trying to protect while taking a moment to consider what this situation actually needs.
Discernment asks us to notice the difference between what we know, what we imagine, and what we want to do about it. Sometimes a clear conversation is indicated. Sometimes more information, a boundary, an apology, or time to think.
Love Note 03 · 5:47
Joy Is Also
Information
Put down the imaginary report card and play a little.
Link to this note ↗A question to carry with you
What would I like a little more of?
A small practice
Notice one thing that makes you feel a little more alive: a song, a colour, an idea, a movement. Follow it a little, with curiosity.
Let a finger dance. Conduct an imaginary orchestra. You can also sit and listen. There is no right way to enjoy yourself, and nothing to earn here.
Read a companion reflection
A written reflection on this theme, to read at your own pace.
It can be easy to give discomfort a full hearing while treating delight as a distraction. We notice what needs fixing. We postpone the song, the walk, the conversation that makes us feel more like ourselves.
Joy can tell us something about what nourishes us, who we enjoy being with, and which parts of us have been waiting for an invitation. It deserves a voice in the decisions we make.
You don’t have to turn every pleasure into a project. Some things are allowed to be good simply because they make being alive feel good.
Keep the conversation going
Bring what’s alive for you.
If a note opens something you’d like to explore with support, we can begin there.
