Broad strokes, grand gestures and big pictures serve their purpose from afar, but to get things right up close, it is the details that count.
Whether it is the unrelenting consistency in attending to our friendships, the slight obsession with elegance, precision in expression, the minute attention to crossing t’s and dotting i’s, or the stubborn following up when everyone else is letting up, the shapes of caring are many.
They share a willingness to go the extra mile, to neither settle nor upset, but rather find in every moment an opportunity to appreciate, nurture, harmonise and thread the fabric of lasting constructs.
Amongst the abundance and infinity diversity of the universe, finding a sustainable growing spot takes commitment.
Willingness to put in the effort can trick us into a controlling and fearful fight against the elements, until we find the clarity and humbly choose to nurture what we do have instead.
Then we develop our connection to the world, and find that this is what opens endless possibilities.
What we retain of any event, place or person is the broad strokes, the big picture, the core meaning, but those cannot exist without a context to give it meaning, a process to lead to it, adornment to highlight meaning, collateral effects.
For everything that has meaning, there are a million elements that give it meaning that are unseen, and forgotten.
A bird may be defined by its flying, it cannot fly endlessly, it needs the ground to rest, feed, survive.
With all our dedication to caring and getting things done, we can acquire a sense of entitlement, a conviction that we care when others don’t or not enough, or not the right way.
With that lens on, the needs of others, protocols, changes in approach and essentially anything that doesn't fit our plan feels like interference.
Genuine care is about the object of our care being attended to whether by us or others, and whether or not we have to jump through hoops.
In taking extra care, we may overdo things, we may be carried away, give more than can be received, triggering resistance or rejection.
Of course it doesn't mean that rejection is warranted, intended or won't cause regret, just that the readiness to receive care is not there, and in pushing things, we delay or compromise the readiness altogether.
A fine line distinguishes persistence from stubbornness; the former is steady and abiding, the latter is blind and deaf.
Nurturing effectively requires open eyes, cleared assumptions, accountability, and allowing the object of our care to raise & shine.
Controlling and taking for granted are not caring.
The world is bigger than we can ever fully explore, we’ll never have seen it all. Our conquering attitude and curiosity will exhaust us long before we even grasp how much there is to see, and then acceleration will take away the pleasure of discovery.
Enjoyment is found as much is the familiar as it is it the new. It is a different kind of joy.
Our comfort zone holds more surprise and resources than we know... until we care to savour what it holds; relative predictability, restfulness, and a force of habit that opens our energy to more.
Sometimes we care too much, we try too hard. We aim for the grand gesture, the theatrical response, the memorable act at the expense of the authenticity or the connection. And we miss the point entirely, we fall flat, we flop, ruin it all.
The intention may be good, it still is over zealous. It asks for too much, aims too high. Now the momentum is gone and so is the moment.
Small Exceeding
Preponderance of the small
Smallness in excess
Too little