Dear ones,
A woman once told me, “I spent most of my life waiting for love. When it finally came, I realized it had always been there.”
We tend to imagine love as an event. A person appears. A relationship blossoms. A moment shifts everything. And sometimes that happens. But more often, love doesn’t arrive like fireworks.
It arrives like breath.
Quietly. Faithfully. Unannounced.
Love is in the way your body heals itself every night without being asked.
Love is in the way a friend listens without fixing.
Love is in the way the earth keeps making apples despite all we do to it.
And yes, love is also in heartbreak. Because without the tenderness that love awakens, loss would never touch us.
A teacher once asked, “Can you love this too?”
Not just beauty.
Not just inspiration.
Not just belonging.
But disappointment.
Note the courage in that question.
When we live with an open heart, life cannot promise safety—but it always offers connection.
You don’t wait for love by standing guard.
You invite love by becoming present.
The moment you soften, you meet it.
The moment you stop bracing, it finds you.
The moment you are gentle with yourself, love looks back through your own eyes.
Love doesn’t need fireworks.
It just needs a willing heart.
With metta,
Jack
*From my new book out now, All In This Together: Stories and Teachings for Loving Each Other and Our World.
