When Jasmine first invited me to participate in the LoveSparks Blogging Festival I was simultaneously intrigued & conflicted. See, the concept of love creates an avalanche of emotion. From sweetness to sadness to rage to joy and everything in between. Love that breaks your heart, soothes your heart & the love that breaks your heart wide open. When considering the latter I immediately feel the presence of my Aunt Violet, otherwise known simply as “Aunt Violet.” She taught me showed me what love, loving & lover truly is. Simply put, she would see with her heart and accept with all her being – whether tending to her husband, her daughter, her art, her garden, her self, her students, her family, her beliefs. So when saddled with self-doubt or loathing & questions of my own significance arise, I try to lean in & borrow from the spirit of this precious soul.

Here is an excerpt from a letter she sent me dated June 12, 1997:

“That birthday card stunned me with its pure beauty of how the human heart is unlimited in its love and understanding and tremendous insight into life’s highest hopes. Ultimately it reached out into the mysteries of the universal from where all harmony and rhythm and sensitivity arises giving birth to someone like you, and hopefully a few others…That birthday card is truly your portrait and as such is the treasure that now glows through my life.”

She exemplified mature love in it’s purest form. I have created a body of work in her honor that you can view here. I am eternally grateful for my Aunt Violet.

Much love & many thanks to Jasmine Lamb for inspiring me to share the love!

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