Jamie’s Gems – Love is Everywhere

Our first post by Jamie, our new Editor O’ Inspiration…take it away, Jamie!

“Finding Love Everywhere in Everything”

As a fan of the multi-talented Drew Barrymore (OK, come on…who isn’t?), I am pretty much in love with everything she is & everything she’s involved in.  When I think of her, I immediately think of bright rays of sunshine, flowers, butterflies, rainbows, infectious giggles & ear-to-ear smiles.  She just seems to always radiate optimism, love, positivity, and joy…which are all things that inspire and motivate me in my own daily walk of life.  

 Last year I fell in love with her Flower Beauty make-up line.  All of the products in the line have such clever, happy names like for instance there’s a dark green eye shadow color called “Olive, My Love” named for her beloved daughter Olive.  How sweet is that?  Oh and there’s a nail polish color called “Thistle or That” and a summery blush / bronzer combo called “Beachy Keen”.   Too cute! 

More recently I have fallen in love with her photography book titled “Find It In Everything”.  

The book is comprised entirely of photographs that Drew has taken of heart shapes she’s come across everywhere in her daily life — some of the hearts were obvious while others were a bit more hidden & barely discernible.  Whether it’s been a heart shape occurring naturally on the eroding bark of a tree trunk, a pattern of leaves blown & clustered into the shape of a heart on the grass, or maybe a heart shaped shell found while strolling along a warm sandy beach in Hawaii — Drew writes about how she is so incredibly taken by these images of hearts and “the way that continuous line (of the heart) accomplishes the most extraordinary thing–it conveys love”.  One of the photographs included in her book was a cluster of heart shaped cactus leaves in the desert. Her caption was “Cactuses are prickly but even they can let you know it’s all going to be okay”. 

Here’s another favorite of mine from her book.   It’s a photo of that little plastic doohickey that keeps our bag of bread & other perishable food items shut.   Ha!  Who would ever think to look for a heart there?    She writes, “I have seen these for many years.  I have handled them – twisted them and clamped these on.  One day the heart appeared.  It had been there all along.  It was waiting for me to find it.”   Ahh, I love it!   

When I read this, it immediately conjured images of the plumeria flower lei we had draped onto my beloved Uncle Sonny’s grave at Punch Bowl Cemetery in Hawaii a few years back.   Saddened by the huge loss of this amazing man, I remember smiling when I noticed the flower lei we had draped onto his grave, was actually hanging there in the form of a heart.  I believe that was a message of love in this midst of the sadness we were all feeling.    

Drew said the meaning for her (seeing the heart shapes everywhere) confirms her belief that “there are messages of positivity everywhere”.   That sentence really hit home for me.  As the Kindness & Positivity Enthusiast I am (yup I capitalized it…I take my title very seriously haha), I myself share that exact same belief.   Love truly is ALL AROUND us.  It is everywhere & can be found in everything!  Love is waiting to be discovered.  LOVE.  IS.  EVERYTHING.   

So perhaps this week’s edition of “Jamie’s Gems” should really be re-named “Drew’s Gems” since it was the underlying message conveyed in her book that inspired me to write this post about love being everywhere!   Either way — I love it, I live by this belief, and I wanted to share it with all of you.  No matter what we are going through, there are messages of love everywhere.   And just like the continuous line of the heart pattern, we all need to do our part to keep the love line going – find it, appreciate it and share it abundantly!  Remember, it takes a whole lot of butterflies to make a world of flowers.  We must ALL do our part.

So step outside of yourself for a moment today, try to be a little more aware, a little more “present”, and see what messages of love & positivity are present everywhere in your own life today.   I promise you there are numerous…just waiting to be discovered & shared!!!   Love is magical & it is everywhere ❤