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Dear Subscriber First Name, The author John Hawkes wrote, “Love is a long, close scrutiny.” This evocative quote reminds us that the more fully present we can be with someone or something, the more likely it is that love will be awakened. It reminds us that offering curious, appreciative attention is what allows our hearts to open wider. It offers us guidance as we seek to build meaningful connections with one another, the natural world, and with life itself. But as simple as offering “long, close scrutiny” may sound, it is not an easy calling. If love asks us to be present, presence calls us to be willing to be fully available, proximal, and vulnerable. It often asks us to be “undone.” It asks us to feel. Take a moment to recall a time when you remember someone offering you their undivided attention. Someone who was fully present with you; no agenda, no interest in changing or fixing you, no timer set, no fee for the kindness. Just a steady gaze, undivided attention, and appreciative interest. There truly is no “just” about this. In our marrow, we know it as love. When do you last remember being this wholeheartedly present? No doubt it is easier to offer our interested attention toward that which is shiny and new. An infant. Spring flowers. The first sunlight after days of gray. But to offer curious attention to what is already familiar - the everyday people and things in our lives - is a far more profound practice. It requires that we release the expectation that what is familiar is always the same and will always be available to us. To actively treasure what is in front of us, with eyes and heart wide open, is the opposite of taking life for granted. Love doesn’t only arise in the field of appreciative attention, it needs it in order to flourish and last. It is only when we are wholly present to the unpromised nature of the familiar that its holiness can be known and nurtured. In the upcoming holidays, I hope that you will experience the sacredness in familiar traditions and gatherings. I hope you will infuse these days ahead with tender appreciation for yourself, loved ones, and those in our human family you do not yet know. May the generosity you bestow and receive be accompanied by a steady gaze and heartfelt presence. May you walk through your days in touch with the preciousness and fragility of all that you hold dear. And may you feel yourself both held in love and as a source of great love that the world needs. You are… Happy Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year to you. From my grateful heart to yours -
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