love & loving

To love as an act and not just a feeling, which is fickle and can change like today’s peaceful confetti-tossed snow to tomorrow’s ambitious rain-soaked winds. To love as writing and talking and being the person I want to be rather than love as a thing to bestow with the obligations and reciprocities attached to gift-giving. To love not as, ‘See, this is for you, and I heap it on your doorstep. Do you give me yours in return then? And will you always stay this same person, the same fortunate recipient of my present?’ But as, ‘I am communicating my thoughts and desires and ideas and listening to all of yours, and I keep you in mind as I go through day to day until we see each other again.’

So despite the time and space, know that I am loving you. Through six and a half months, 196 days, the passing of two seasons. Seven countries, 5,100 miles as the bird flies, the distance of nine time zones. Emotion alone renders this a fearful endeavor, feeling the immensity of obstacles. The choosing and the action make it a beautiful one, nurturing the present and creating possibilities.