One of those odd days when you work and work yet it doesn't feel like anything was really done. I stared at the manuscript, fiddled with the outline, worried a plot point, none of which netted any actual words. Probably because of the overload Sunday, my poor brain isn't exactly ready to start churning out more new stuff. Which simply will not do. 

I've never been one to wait for the Muse to come visiting, I generally find her, pin her down and force the phrases from her lips. But today it just wasn't happening. So I did yoga, and laundry, and straightened the house, and took a long lunch with a book. 

Confession. I've begun reading OUTLANDER again. Mostly because of the Scotland trip, but also because, well, I do so love realistic heroes. Jamie Fraser may be the ultimate warrior poet laird, but he is also incredibly human, with tics and issues and weaknesses. Claire too is as real as it gets, a woman's woman, with her own massive flaws and acerbic wit.  

Which brings me to love. I was in savasana today (come on, admit it, you do yoga to get to savasana, don't you?) listening to Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, thinking about how powerful women are. That our touch can draw a hallelujah from the lips of our lover. That we can love until it hurts, and be loved in return. That there is a perfect creature out there who will move hell and earth for us, who will bleed for us, bodily protect us, and hold us close in the night.

We misuse love. Take it for granted. We live in an easier time now, where our significant others don't need to take up swords and dirk to defend us in our homes, and much of our conversation revolves around what to pick up for dinner, and how cool last night's episode of HOMELAND was or what the kid's did in school today.

Have you ever stopped and thought about it? What your man (or woman, of course) would do for you? What you would do for them? How far your love goes? 

One of the things I adore about the OUTLANDER series is this question of love. What does it mean? How does it manifest itself? And how far will you go to protect it? It is our lifeblood, our tie that binds. It is our reason for living. Without it, life is a cold place. Be it the love of a good spouse, lover, a friend, a mother or father, even a child, love is the reason we do most everything.  

Tell him you love him tonight. Show him how much. See if you can wrench a hallelujah from his lips. And mark the day well spent. Sometimes, it's about more than just words.