Love
Hold on tight to the ones who show their love to you by truly seeing you….
Love is in the little things, but love is by no means a little thing.
It took me a long time to figure myself out, and I really screwed up trying to master the intimate-relationship thing. After (another) breakup
that had me moving from New York City back to Vancouver, my dear friend Julie offered to let me move into her very small Yaletown apartment with her. Before I arrived in Vancouver, Julie had visited me in New York, and taken some of my belongings back to Canada with her. Julie’s style is sleek and modern. Mine is….bohemian and pretty weird (I like silly toys and such). During the flight from Newark to Vancouver, I engaged pretty heavily in critical self-talk playing over all the “failures” I had accumulated at the ripe old age of twenty-eight (and long before I had learned how to practice self-compassion).
When I arrived at Julie’s apartment, it emotionally moved me that she had taken my Gumby and Kewpie dolls (and other weird objects of 
mine) and displayed them prominently in HER home. It was a simple and touching gesture to make me feel welcomed, and truly seen. Julie has a knack for noticing the small details, and is the best gift giver I know. But seeing those silly items in a time of raw vulnerability, was a beautiful and unexpected demonstration of love.
