What would I say if I stopped caring about what others thought? If other people’s opinions of me and my work ceased being important in my head what are the messages I would spread and what would I really, really, really write about?

Well, without thinking too much about it I would say (in no particular order) –

Fuck it!

I love your dress, any chance I could talk you out of it?

Life is short, shorter than any of us realise, so quit moaning and quit quitting, shut up and let your passion lead you

Trust your heart because it is your best friend, it knows you better than anyone or anything else on this planet

Quit chasing after the ideal job or career…follow your talents and gifts instead, trust in your innate abilities and the unique way you express them

Fear holds me back sometimes and I still find myself believing the crap my head thinks about not being good enough

There is only Now, You are now, you are this moment always, so forget about the future, embrace the now completely….live it, taste it….the rest is just

I love red wine…..too much sometimes!

You are already awake, enlightened, or whatever word you use, so relax and stop the frantic seeking and looking for answers……rest in your heart and let life unfold before you

and

Here is a challenge for you…

Choose any day over the next week to be the “I love you” day. While the cynic in you might be heaving with judgemental and anti-sentimental vomit, I urge you to hang on and read further.

Pick one day to be totally vulnerable, open, honest, real and human! That’s all. For that day tell everyone in your life whom you love, even just a little bit, that you do love them. Tell them and make sure they have heard it. You are doing this not so that they can say I love you back…you do not want or need to hear it back. You want and need to say it for you and the recipient. Ok? Does this make sense? It is so simple and so powerful.

Now, if you are like I used to be many moons ago, you might believe you love no-one and so this will not apply to you or that you do this anyway most days so your grand ….well bullshit!

You can always do this, do it better and more often, in fact when you let the barriers down and start opening up to the idea and the practice you will realise there are many people whom you do love but did not realise until you started focusing on it. To love is not to sleep with or make love to another, to love is (as you know) to appreciate, honour, enjoy and celebrate another person who is in your life, if only for a brief period. Love them and let them know they are loved.

You never need a reason to tell another you love them, you can phone them, write them, email them, text them, skype them, facebook them, shout it to them across the open plan office, through their letter-box or from the top of an open-top double-decker bus (that would involve amazing chance or amazing planning for you to achieve, but would be so worth it to see the look on their face!). You could meet them that day with a t-shirt reading I Love You Claire (or whatever the person’s name happens to be).

Never forget that You are a love machine! ………and

You have enough love deep within you to flood the world over several times. You are a walking reservoir of love, and funnily enough a bottomless pit of love. So spread it about, be generous, let it go and do the loving, don’t wait for someone to tell you that they love you before you say it, that is cowardice and pointless. Say it like you mean it because you do mean it (otherwise never say it!).

And when your day is over stand in front of that mirror in your bathroom and say it to the person you see with real meaning and heart because they deserve to hear it from you also………thanks and yes, of course I love you, for reading this and for being part of it, whether you do it or not!