Recipes for Love

Karen and Toby. Two of the most loving people you could ever meet.

I went home to Ohio recently to watch the Total Eclipse with Nathan, Natalie, Connie, and Judy. It was such a great trip. It was filled with love! I also visited with some friends. While visiting with Toby and Karen we had a discussion about love. It got me thinking about it. Toby is a chef and Karen is a psychologist. During our discussion, we were talking about the best way to live a life, and we all agreed that living life with love was the best way. Then Toby offered up a thought that I was intrigued and impressed by. He said something to the effect of "Love is such a simple recipe, we just shouldn't have too many cooks in the kitchen". As I thought about that statement, it really struck me how right he is! Love truly is a simple recipe. And living life with love is the best. Just because it is such a simple recipe, doesn't mean there aren't a lot of different kinds, forms, or ingredients to it. To me, love has many ingredients to its recipe. You can use any or all of your ingredients as YOU deem fit. It is just like chili, if I may use food as an analogy. If you ask 5 people about their recipe for chili, they will surely give you 5 different ways with various ingredients. But to them, their recipe is simple. The common ingredient would be some sort of chili. Whether it be a chili powder or chili pepper. If you ask 5 people about their recipe for love, they will surely give you 5 different ways with various ingredients. We can discuss what those "ingredients" should be ad nauseum, but my humble opinion is that every recipe for love should have heart. I also believe every form of love should have kindness. That is what makes it so simple! Heart and kindness. Those are two simple ingredients. Then you can add other ingredients that make it your own. Maybe you like things spicy? Maybe sweet? Maybe sweet AND spicy? I believe as long as it comes from the heart and you mix in kindness, you will have a great recipe.  

Pete and Jack. A father and son.

Also, there are all kinds of love. There is a love between Father and Son. Mother and Daughter. Mother and Son. Father and Daughter. Cousins. Friends. And so on and so on. They all have different ingredients in their recipes, that is a guarantee! I still believe each of those recipes should have heart and kindness in them. A parent and child recipe might have an ingredient that makes their love tough. As long as that toughness includes heart and kindness, it is all good I believe. Cousins might have silliness in their recipe. Friends might have laughter or hugs. The ingredients for a recipe of love are countless. 

In the photo above, Pete is making a speech about his son Jack. Jack had his confirmation in his catholic church that night. You could see the love in Pete's face and hear them in his words. You could see the love Jack felt from his father, and from the God he believes in. It was incredible to witness. I am not here to persuade anyone to love God or anyone else you don't believe in. Love God, Mohammed, Buddha, Jesus, Spirits, or any other entity that you deem worthy. It is YOUR love that should shine in my opinion. As long it has heart and kindness, it should be a great love. This goes back to "not having too many cooks in the kitchen". From what I can tell, all religions and good-hearted belief systems are based on the principles of love. Each religion and good-hearted belief system has its own ingredients. I say search for the ingredients and people that speak to your heart. Then add what ingredients you want to the recipe to make it your own. Don't get muddled by too many "cooks" in your kitchen. Follow your heart, with some guidance from friends and family, and your path will surely lead to love and happiness.

Cousins Beatrice and Addie, with Scarlett in the backdrop.

A love between cousins is usually fun. Addie and Beatrice show this all the time. Every time I see them, they are laughing and playing together. Enjoying each other's personalities and quirks to the fullest! Sometimes they are a blur, as you can see in the photo. Ha. Scarlett is Beatrice's dog. A love between pet and owner is special. I know I have loved every one of my pets. And I have loved them differently with different ingredients. I have always loved them with all my heart and with kindness! I am sure Beatrice and her family do the same with Scarlett.

Three clowns pretending to watch a Total Eclipse :0)

Nathan, Me, and Natalie. We share a strong love!

One of my personal favorite recipes is the one I share with my nephew and niece. Nathan and Natalie are two of my favorite humans on Earth. To witness the Total Solar Eclipse with them and see their reactions to such an incredible event did my heart good. We are bonded even more than ever. Our recipe includes laughter, heart, kindness, and hugs. They give the best hugs! They humor me with my love of clowning, and that makes me love them all the more! If that is even truly possible? They are such wonderful, caring, smart, fun, and beautiful humans! I will love them until the end of time. We have never discussed ingredients for their own recipes, but I am quite certain that theirs have some unique ingredients, with heart and kindness as their staples. I have seen their kindness and heartfelt acts firsthand. I learn from them, just by watching them. We can all learn more about love by watching the people around us. Especially ones that exhibit the best qualities in life. 

Connie and I have a great recipe ourselves!!

The love between a woman and a man can be incredible. So can a love between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. Connie and I have our own recipe, and I think it is one of the best recipes out there. We use a lot of different "ingredients". Every day we use different ingredients. Our ingredients include laughter, trust, play, respect, heart, courage, kindness, adventure, etc. I honestly can't list all of our ingredients because there are so many, and they are forever changing. Some days we use all of the ingredients in our spice cabinet. Some days we only use 2 or 3. You truly don't need a lot of ingredients for your recipe. Again, I believe heart and kindness should be there. You can add anything else you want to make it your own recipe. Some of the best chili recipes only have 3 ingredients. Or any other dishes you want to cook up. You can also relate it to music if that helps. 3 chords and the truth make for great songs. 3 ingredients and the truth can make a great recipe for love in my opinion! Do you agree? 

Again, I am not here to persuade you into any certain "kind" of love. All love is great in my opinion. I just use certain examples to express my thoughts on the wholeness and totality of love in this world. This is how life should be lived on Earth. Just like the Total Eclipse we just witnessed, with totality comes a ring of light around the edges. This ring of light is the outer atmosphere of the sun. It is only visible during a total solar eclipse. It is called the sun's corona. So go out there and use your totality of love to create your own ring of light! Are you with me? 

     Now Go Out and Hug Someone with Abundant Love!!!