As I write this, I’m recovering for a 20-mile run. Forgive me if it’s not my most eloquent, or longest.
Answering the Question: Recreating Love
Last week I asked you to consider how you can create more moments of love for yourself.
As always, I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t have much time to sit with this. Well, that’s a lie. I had time. I just…didn’t. I was on vacation, my journaling practice fell by the wayside, and with the time I did have I just didn’t make this a priority.
And that’s okay. This isn’t homework. It’s at-your-own-pace self-exploration. We do it when we want to, and when we can.
When I did spend time with this though, I noticed a lot of the ways I feel loved are when I experience acts of service or words of affirmation (to put this into love language terms). With that, I challenged myself to figure out what those would look like to try.
For the former I thought about holding to either a) regular artist dates or b) a stronger yoga/stretching practice. For the latter, more gratitude journaling. Yes, I already journal regularly, but I think more focused journaling on gratitude might help me affirm myself and my experience better through words.
And that’s all I got today.
The Forty-Ninth Question
After a week where we looked at how we love ourselves, let’s look externally at how we experience love with others.
How does it feel to say “I love you,” and how does it feel to hear/receive it?
Try to pay attention to any times you say this, or have it said to you this week. Everything from “I love you” to “Love ya” to “ILY”. We won’t worry about form as much as sentiment.
When you say “I love you,” what forms are you using (like the three examples above)? Which is most frequent, least frequent, or used not at all?
Who do you say this to the most? Who says it to you the most?
Do you have a different response based on a) the sender or b) the word choice?
Is it harder or easier to do one of these than the other (send or receive)?
This Week’s Jam: “She’s Always in My Hair”
Presenting the greatest Prince song to never get a proper release.
“She’s Always in My Hair” was only released as the B-side to “Raspberry Beret” (one of my least favorite of Prince’s “popular” songs) in May 1985. It never found its place on any album, despite becoming incredibly popular among the fanbase.
The “She” in question? Jill Jones, a long-time Prince collaborate and talented vocalist. Jill was integral to Prince’s early and mid-80s projects, doing everything from working in the studio at Sunset Sound, where he was recording, to standing backstage doing back-up vocals for Vanity 6. Name a Prince song from this period, and there was a good chance Jill was involved in. Yet she never gets the kudos she deserves. She was never as visible as Wendy or Lisa, and we probably have Prince to blame for that.
This song was the one time he really put her in the spotlight, and look at what we did. He basically said she’s annoying AF.
And the song only ever releasing as a B-side is a subtle reminder that the tune, like the woman who inspired it, was something Prince wanted kept behind the curtain.
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