I is for Intention

Loving from the inside out is nothing without intention. Because we have to decide (intend) to love others--or  even just to treat others, depending on the situation--based on their humanity and not on their appearance. It's not always easy. As committed to this as I am, I still catch myself sometimes, reacting, even if only in my head, to others' appearance as if it represents the totality of who they are. Maybe it's all the conditioning...I mean, before I met Ron (see "About This Blog," left), I'd had 35-plus years of American culture (and independent fundamental Baptist subculture...which didn't help anything) telling me how much appearance mattered. It's not like a person overcomes that much conditioning in a day.

But...I press on. Nothing will deter me. I don't believe appearance is completely unimportant, but it's definitely not the most important thing about anyone. I have decided: I will continue to push past that conditioning, past others' exteriors...to find out who they are where it matters: in their heart.

Returning to the [No-Longer-April] A to Z Challenge

In case you haven't noticed...I didn't exactly finish the A to Z challenge within the month of April. I had intended to, but I underestimated how much of my time and energy Camp Widow would take up. And even when it was over, I just didn't have any inspiration for awhile.

But I want to finish the Loving From the Inside Out alphabet. So, while I can't predict how quickly the remaining 18 posts will come out, I can predict that they will. "I" is up next...stay tuned.