A meme gone viral, that reads like an instructional manual for life is called Dear Human. Written by the inimitable Courtney A. Walsh, it speaks to the wondering wanderer in each of us. The disenfranchised aspects of ourselves that long to be welcomed back in and fully integrated. The fanciful fantasizer who conjures up miracle manna-festation at the speed of thought.

Walsh has taken all of this juicy stuff and composed a book that wraps her thoughts around what it means to live as the prose encourages. Called Dear Human:  A Manifesto of Love, Invitation and Invocation to Humanity, the 127 page paperback published by Findhorn Press will debut early in 2016. It comes directly from Walsh’s experiences of stumbling and falling, of dancing gracefully, and of her time as a patient in an inpatient psychiatric facility following a blessed failed suicide attempt. The book that chronicles that period in her life is called Lipstick and Thongs in the Loony Bin.

From the other side of the locked doors, Walsh sees the world through miracle eyes. There are some who would call her an unrealistic dreamer, a visionary with blinders on. The book disclaims those limitations and instead encourages the reader to exhibit possibility thinking as well. When people have cautioned her with words such as “Life is not all rainbows, unicorns, fairies and gumdrops,” she has replied, “Of course not…. it’s also chocolate, orgasms, laughing so hard you pee yourself, crying until your heart is clean and whatever else we make of it.”  Seeing love as a key ingredient to a life well lived, Walsh is a realistic romantic through and through. She knows that love is gritty and raw, as well as light and fluffy. Her models for love in all forms were her parents and grandmother.

She speaks of love as more than mere emotion, but rather as a “shared reality of consciousness and a journey of remembering.”  and “It is a sacred honoring of the reflected divinity in another.”

The concept of perfection arises as she offers, “What we are is perfect. Perfectionism is what happens when we forget that.” Walsh goes on to elaborate that freedom from the plague of perfectionism is letting go of the need to be right. It is about learning from all of our experiences and carrying the lessons to the next stage. She encourages wild and holy curiosity as she lists questions such as:

1. What if there was nothing you really need to do?

2. Nobody you need to be?

3. No laundry that cannot wait?

4. No have to’s, gotta’s, shoulds or musts?

What if, indeed?

Walsh encourages bare naked authenticity and vulnerability that allows people to get to know you. She has become an open book as her postings on social media can attest. She takes responsibility for all she brings to the table and the keyboard.

Her take on the Divine is that it is both feminine and masculine and it encompasses dimensions too vast to mention. It invites exploration. It celebrates our life lessons. It is, as she phrases it, “multi-dimensional and intentional”.

Concepts that invoke personal sovereignty include her clear yesses and no’s.

No more people pleasing for the sake of approval.

No more intellectual debates. (Juicy dialoging YES)

No more emotionally unavailable men.

No mullets.

No to hate. (Yes to love)

One of the delights of reading Walsh’s writing is that she is what I call a ‘wondrous wordsmith’ who weaves together multi-syllabic mash-ups. Some of them include “sweatymessy” and “yummyperfect”.

Walsh wraps up her treatise with a statement about love “All we need is love. And love needs us too.  Love is a gift, given freely and often and received with grace and awe. No conditions. No categories. Just LOVE. It really is enough. In fact it’s plenty.”