Beauty is The Place Where Love Resides

Today I’m talking about love. I know, a broad subject! But first, I wanted to share some book love from librarian and book reviewer, Mary Lanni. I was honored and grateful that she reviewed Loon Cove Summer and invited me on her YouTube channel with an author interview!

In our interview, we chatted about my favorite characters in Loon Cove Summer, why I love to write for middle grade, and book research that included a blast from the past. Watch it here:

And here's a snapshot of Mary’s Review of Loon Cove Summer:

"This book is filled with emotion ... just beautifully written. A lot of need for tissues! A rich story that will resonate with readers of all ages ... deep and resonant."

Watch the full review on YouTube @MaryLanniReads, plus check out all of Mary’s children’s book recommendations and author interviews:

And besides book love in this world, we need to go deeper. To embrace a love that infuses the choices we make and the actions we take.

I’ve often thought that the cliché “Love makes the world go ‘round” is a cliché for a reason. Because I believe it to be true. Every day I am moved by love. For my family and friends. For what I believe in. For wanting to contribute something positive to this world. For what I’m passionate about. And love for myself. I hope you all have this too in your life.

There’s a poem that beautifully reflects these sentiments written by the late humorist Sam Levenson for his grandchild, which says:

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows and the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.”

LOVE.

It’s a giant, magical beating heart inside us that breaks and mends itself over and over. Love is a heart that propels us to find our power and change our world—and keep enduring.

Like it was the love for my son, Joshua, that filled my heart to create my very first book that started all the others. And it was losing the love of my mother through her death that broke my heart and drove me to finish that first book. And it is the discovery of my love for writing books that keeps me going. It began with love. It endures with love. What began with love for you and what has endured with love?

And when I reflect on what beauty means to me, I believe it is indeed the place where love resides. For beauty is a loving heart.

A constant challenge for me is trying to act with love in my heart. As a wife and mother and a bystander in life, it’s hard to always be the good-hearted person I aim to be. I can be impatient and critical. My words can wound. And every time I lose my temper or let negative words pour from my mouth to someone I care about, or even a stranger, I regret my actions and try to find that loving heart where true beauty resides.

This place where love resides can never disappear. It’s inside us waiting to be discovered.

I’m constantly reminded of beauty in a loving heart …

· It’s in the mother with three children at the store who maintains grace under the pressure of her little ones and speaks to them with patience and love.

· It’s in the person in line at the store who’s waited so long and still smiles and jokes with the flustered, agitated cashier who’s had one tough customer after another.

· It’s in the husband who does the little things for his wife, before she even asks, as he knows it makes her happy.

To me, all these things come from where true beauty resides. It shines outward to touch those affected and, I hope, is a ripple effect creating more loving hearts.

I see all this daily and I try again to meet the challenge of living my life with a loving heart so I can feel beautiful and help others feel beautiful too. I know when I act toward my son with love rather than anger, it affects him. He shines and feels good about himself. When I act with anger, I also see the negative effect it has on him. What a powerful thing it is—this loving heart.

I was especially reminded of it recently. I have a copy of the book Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff in Love, by Richard Carlson and his wife, Kristine Carlson.

One section from this book that captures its theme completely is this: Respond with love. We can choose to do this in our daily interactions. Try it and see the difference it makes.

My mother (a great loving heart example) gave it to me when I was getting married. She was always giving me little inspirational books and mailing me articles on how to live a positive life.

And if you don’t know Dr. Richard Carlson, he wrote the hugely successful Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff series. I had always been moved by his book and the obvious wonderful relationship he and his wife shared.

I was shocked and saddened to discover he passed away suddenly in 2006 at the young age of 45. Since learning of his death my daily struggle to find beauty by living with a loving heart has become so much more, for I could very well die today and never have accomplished this. And what kind of legacy would I be leaving for my son, my husband, my friends—the world?

My mom taught me that to love others I had to love myself first.

Over the last year of my mom’s life as she slowly faded away from cancer, I heard over and over from so many of her special friends and family these words describing my mom: “An amazing woman”, “remarkable”, “so optimistic”, “never complaining”, “sunshine in my life”.

All these things I took for granted about her—thinking that all people are like that. But they are not. She was unique. But we can all be like this to others. She was proof.

And the way she faced her death was an inspiration to me and everyone around her. Not once did I hear her speak in self-pity or anger or ask, “Why me?”. The dignity and grace by which she sailed through her life –and toward her death left a wake of beauty across many of the hearts she touched.

And it was because of her loving heart.

Her legacy reminds me that life is short and today is the day I can start building my life with a loving heart. Will I? Will you?

And each time I feel quick to temper I say the words to myself, “live life with a loving heart” and I smile, take a deep breath, and begin again.

It doesn’t always work, I admit. But I will never give up trying to find the beauty in a loving heart—for it resides within me. It resides in all of us.

XXOO-Donna