32 Words in Eskimo, so--Where did WE go Wrong?

So, I've been thinking. 
Sometimes that happens. 
And when it does random topics whirl through my mind like mini cyclones, and sometimes in order to make sense of these thoughts I will write them down.
 In the chaos and the tumult that is my mind, the ability to stop time by capturing those thoughts and depositing them on a page  is invaluable to me, and so, here we are.

The word "love" gets thrown around so much on a day-to-day basis, it's a wonder the letters haven't broken off and gotten lost forever. Or--have they? How often do you say you "love" something as silly as a pair of shoes, or a song, or an ice cream flavor?

I have many favorite novels and one of those is The Secret Life of Bees.  It was remade into a movie with Queen Latifah.  Meh. 
Anyway, set in the 60's at the start of the Civil Rights Movement, there is this matriarchal character in the story named August (think of the vocab word).  She is one of the so-named Calendar sisters in the book (the others are named May and June and there was once an April).  August takes in a 14-year old runaway, the main character in the story, and her name is Lily.  Like most storylines of the ilk, August is wise and weary and capable of great one-liners.  And this is one of them:
On page 140, August tells Lily,"We are so limited, you have to use the same word for loving Rosaleen as you do for loving Coke with peanuts. Isn't that a shame we don't have more ways to say it?"  
Before this, she (August) is lamenting the notion that Eskimos have 32 different ways to express love, yet, we are tied to the SAME word for, literally, everything.  Hence, the title for this blog post.

The first time I read that line (Summer of 2005) I pondered it for hours afterward, desperate to find another word to replace the one that should remain sacred.
And came up with....exactly nothing.
 It has never been far from my thoughts since then.


So, your challenge for this week, poppets, is to dig deep inside yourself and think about what it is that you really love. In order to do that, I think it would be beneficial to start out with a working definition of what love is.
 How would you define it? What characteristics would be a good representation of it? And then, at long last, ask yourself..."What do I love?"
Does putting a classification on things you have previously said you "loved" change your perspective on what the meaning of love should be?

"I Am Whatever You Say I Am..."

Pretty sure that is a super old Eminem song.... Don't judge me...

That one line always stuck with me.  I don't know why.. Well, maybe I do.
When you think about it, other's perceptions of us often turn out to be true--even when we don't want them to be.
 We can explore this idea later, and we will, but for now, just this.


How many times have you said to yourself, and for that matter, to anyone who would listen--"I don't care what anyone else thinks...".

I know I've said it at least once in the past month--please note, today is the second day of the month...so...yeah, already said it.

 In our heart of hearts, though, do we really believe that?

It seems an age-old question, but it is one that may not have just one answer: to what extent do other people's perceptions of you have an impact on the decisions you make?

Peer pressure, parental pressure, self-imposed pressure, all these outside, or inside, forces have the potential to make you act, or react, in ways that you normally might not if never exposed to those influences.
My question is: Why? Why do we care?
Why is it important?
Why do other people's perceptions or expectations of who we are have so much of an influence on us?
Or do they?
Be honest with yourself when you answer.
After all, it's just us so you can be honest here.