a continuation of last week’s reflection….
The act of loving itself, always becomes a path of humble apprenticeship, not only in following its difficult way and discovering its different forms of humility and beautiful abasement but strangely, through its fierce introduction to all its many astonishing and different forms, where we are asked continually and against our will, to give in so many different ways, without knowing exactly, or in what way, when or how, the mysterious gift will be returned.*
When encountering love, whether it be by surprise or through a slow and steady building of relationship over a long time, I’ve noticed that if I attempt to name or define the type of love that I am experiencing too soon, I cut myself off from so many possibilities.
When I instead devote myself to cultivating the myriad of ways in which I give and receive love (for example, through time, touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts**), my capacity for whom and how I love increases exponentially!
In what ways do you apply your intelligence, curiosity, skills, generosity and more to the act of loving?
In what ways have you been a humble apprentice of the fiercely vulnerable and beautifully potent gift that we call Love?
*excerpted from David Whyte’s essay “Naming”
**examples from the book THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES by Gary Chapman
photos, first grouping: me; Mohonk Preserve, NY. February 10, 2019.
photo, last: me; Ashokan Reservoir, NY. February 8, 2019.