ruminating

My Dad has given me a love of languages for which I'm very grateful. This morning the first line I thought of for my blog involved the word ruminating, and I had a vague sense that it was connected to cows chewing the cud, and indeed I'm right. So when I want to open with
"I spent some of yesterday ruminating on the differences between love and unconditional positive regard"
it conjours in my mind a picture of me as a cow (it's a Friesian) not just cogitating in my head but in my belly too. It's a reasonable enough comparison to how my life goes, I guess.

I didn't really reach many conclusions. I was so pleased when in my life I discovered the concept of Unconditional Positive Regard. It makes so much sense to me and it's how I want to be - not just in my counselling and supporting situations, but All The Time. And to me, whilst it's not the same as love, it's a springboard to it. It makes loving both strangers and close ones easier, to trust they are doing their best. When someone I don't know does something that has the potential to ruin my day, like nearly crash into my car, UPR is what helps me keep my thoughts loving towards them. When things get tricky in any relationship, UPR keeps me grounded in a more hopeful way, optimistic that a way forwards of some sorts will be found.
So no, it's not love, but it helps love to grow/be sustained :)

The sky was beautiful tonight as I drove home from choir. A variety of clouds,  some with sharp edges,  others feathering away into blurs. I don't have the right word, in my mind or belly,  for the shades and brightness of the blues.