“Loving” was the intentional word I picked at last year’s ReFresh Experience. At that time, I thought it represented other people loving on me, but over time I realized the word was a wake up call for me to love on myself; say Yes to self-care, and explore what makes me feel in love with myself. – Kim White

Last year’s retreat aligned to a time when my children had just left home and my husband and I were beginning to rediscover who we were in their absence. During one of the Living With Intention workshop exercises, I picked the word “Loving” and learned multi-layered lessons relating to this beautiful quality.

After the workshop, I immediately began observing my thoughts and the actions that I committed to, daily, for creating loving moments. The word Loving stayed with me. It was a constant presence. I’d check-in with myself regularly and ask whether or not I was being authentic with my word. I began focusing on messages being sent to me, the randomness of it all was almost laughable.  I began to think, “Did I choose the word or did the word choose me?” As the months would go by, other meaningful words started to reveal themselves to me and I began paying close attention and making deliberate moves accordingly. As a result of last years ReFRESH Experience and a year-long commitment to Loving, I’ve become more spiritually in tune, more connected to my heart and more courageous in taking what I need for myself, unapologetically.

During ReFresh Experience 2.0, I intend to go deeper; to be open to new concepts and add more life (and Loving) skills to my toolkit. I’m already aware that I tend to work too much and I really want to spend more time enjoying the fruits of my labor. I’m hoping to learn some strategies that will support me in achieving more balance – even if it means leaving things for tomorrow, delegating or releasing the need to control. Over the past year, the word Loving has become a beacon of light and reflection of how I love myself.  The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that the highest form of Loving doesn’t come from anyone else – it comes from me!