June Musings

Hello dear Truistas,

We are well into June now and the world is a much different place from the last time I posted.

I’m not going to say much about it because I am thinking, processing, assessing and generally trying to understand what’s happening as more unfolds. I’m a big proponent of growth and progress; and I now understand that tower moments sometimes need to happen beforehand. My mother always says, out of bad comes good; I believe that to be true. In the meantime, I will be praying, lifting up all people and contributing where I am called to. I love you all so much!

Be well, be safe, be love.

Ailsa

More May Musings

Hi there! I hope everyone is well, healthy and safe! I was wondering what to write about this week when a nudge from the universe came through my precious friend Liz, whom you will meet shortly on The Truista interview series.

Liz texted me a quote by Maya Angelou (one of my many heroes), “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it’s destination full of hope.” Yes, yes, yes, another definition to add to my arsenal! And I’ve already used it; so I know it works! When I was tempted to judge a situation this week which would end up pushing me further from love; I stopped and I thought, love jumps hurdles, leaps fences, goes through walls and arrives with hope, and I will not be the one to stop that. I will not put a block up to love. Instead I will let it shine through my heart and expand. And guess what? I felt so much better than if I had gone and followed my own thoughtless, reactionary way. Thank you Maya for your wise words which will live on in memoriam.

The second nudge came through a post on Instagram by Glennon Doyle, the author of Untamed (truly a must read if interested in liberating yourself). She writes: On Deep Self-Care: Not Breaking Trust with Ourselves “I love myself now. Self-love means that I have a relationship with myself built on trust and loyalty. I trust myself to have my own back, so my allegiance is to the voice within. I’ll abandon everyone else’s expectations of me before I’ll abandon myself.”

I love this because I believe it can break us out of herd mentality. We can be who we are; not who people in our life expect us to be. There’s so much power when you are free to express yourself and so little when your truth is bottled up and hidden. And eventually, I believe truth strives to be released in some capacity anyway. Perhaps the easiest way to release yourself and free yourself is to be exactly who you were created to be. If others are not OK with that, then they may need to head down a separate path. And that’s OK, because then those who are aligned with you, who celebrate you, who lift you up will come in! It makes me think, ain’t love grand? Love always, Ailsa

May Musings

Please, please love yourself…

It’s taken me many years to truly understand what loving myself means. My path started at a small library fair in Seal Harbor, Maine several summers ago. While I was perusing the used books at the sale, Deepak Chopra’s The Path to Love jumped out and landed in my hands! One dollar later and the book was mine! It’s the best dollar I have ever spent because it led me down a very specific path, love! I’d never heard of this fellow but I devoured his book and immediately signed up for one of his wellness weekends in California. A little impulsive perhaps, but if anything I’d have a nice birthday weekend away; maybe I’d learn something new.

While at the wellness weekend, one of the speakers talked about loving yourself. (Huh, what’s that?!) The speaker asked, “Who thinks loving themselves means you are being selfish”? To my astonishment most hands went up, mine included. She continued to speak and convince me and others that it wasn’t selfish, and in fact it was necessary in order to be happy and to love others. Good news! But now I needed to know what the definition of love is. Is it words with no action? is it being all things to all people?

What I was able to deduce after many months of looking for the answer is that love takes many forms and my definition may not be the same as yours. I’ll share mine with you and perhaps we have the same outlook but I would still encourage you to seek your own thoughts about love. The two definitions that ring true to me are very simple.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

and Something Belle Hooks says (I’m paraphrasing here) in her book All About Love: Love is helping others (and yourself) to grow spiritually.

My intent is for an increase in love for us all and in all things may love rule!

With love, Ailsa

April Musings

There are no words to adequately sum up what the hell is going on these days! I float between extreme gratitude and major frustration. I assure myself that it’s “normal” to feel this way but I don’t really know. I do know that I have no choice but to surrender and that takes the shape of flexibility and understanding and sometimes just throwing my hands up! Oh, and cleaning the kitchen, always cleaning the kitchen these days.

While we don’t know how the future will unfold, here at The Truista our intention is to continue to provide authentic, inspiring stories and other tools to help lift you up, connect you in and live your dreams.

Stay tuned! Look for us in your Inbox, on Instagram and Twitter. And most importantly, blessings of good health to you and your loved ones. Love you!