With my Learning to Love You More Assignment I wanted to create a type of inner reflection exercise. I personally struggle with speaking my mind and expressing my true self, and I have a strong sense that many people share that trait with me.
To encourage the task of self-expression, I had my classmates write a letter to someone telling them something they have longed to say but hadn't. Because I felt it was a personal experience I gave students the option of mailing/delivering the letter as some letters may be too difficult to send, but delivery was strongly encouraged. I'm hoping to eventually recieve reactions to the letters and or the process of writing/delivering the letters, which I predicted to be possibly one of the most rewarding aspects of the assignment, along with personal relief of freeing the weighty voices that some of us keep inside. However, it is best for us and the people around us to let it out and I hope this exercise reveals to people how easy and relieving it can be.
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October 11, 2013
My Dear Dean.
This might come as a big surprise but the reason I fell in love with you over twenty five years ago was not because of your rugged good looks or because you were in fact tall, dark and handsome. That’s not the reason I fell so hard and have stayed in love with you all of these many years.
I fell and remain fallen in love with you for so many other reasons which are listed below in no particular order…
· you get me and what is important to me: my children, my grandchildren, love, kindness and caring and doing for others
· you are unbelievably kind and crazy gentle with children and animals
· you are kind to everyone
· you believe in what I believe in for the environment, the animals of the world and understand global warming and carrying capacity
· you understand that when the animals are gone; humans will quickly follow
· you love and appreciate the beauty of this world… you love the spirituality of the Black Hills but also love and appreciate my favorite cities- Washington DC, San Francisco and New York, even though the crowds drive you crazy
· you give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise
· you are not selfish… you understand the concept of enough
· although you can do the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 20 minutes you wander with me for as long as it takes me to enjoy the experience when we go there.
· you are totally trustworthy and loyal to a fault
· I only hint that I want something and you search until you find and present me with what I have mentioned
· you totally appreciate what I do for you
· you love my cooking or at least act like you do
· you see my kindness, gentleness and inner beauty as a strength
· our minds are in synch…
· we both love sci fi, the history channel and National Geographic
· you love and support my art
· you support my shoe habit
· you always apologize when you are wrong (a rare trait in a man) and know how to say thank you when I do something for you!
You only have a couple of lacks that make me kind of sad… You don’t drink coffee so we can’t sit on the deck in the morning with our hot mugs appreciating the sunrise. And… you won’t drink wine so we can’t sit on the porch in the evening watching the sunset.
Love you,
Your other half
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