Love at a Distance

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Thomas Merton

Oh, if only I could do this! I do believe in Jung's principle of mirroring: We are attracted to people who exhibit qualities we wish we had, and we dislike people for attitudes and behaviors they share with our shadow selves.

So is it even possible to love someone without having one's self all mixed up in it? Although I believe we're all a part of the same "being" or "soul" or even "deity" anyway, I do think that we can work on loving the whole of a person. This seems easier for me to do if I'm not with the person everyday, tho. I can smile at my dear ones' foibles if I don't have to witness them day after day.

Although I wasn't thinking of her when I wrote the above, today is my little sister's birthday. We had a difficult relationship growing up, but distance and email have made it so much easier to love each other. I've knit her a beautiful felted handbag... just have to decide on the handle or straps, and then I can mail it out. Late, as always. But that's one of my own foibles, probably harder for others to smile about.

This would be a good day to get out the camera and take pictures of some finished objects. Maybe later.

Must go out and feed and water the chickens and let the geese out of their pen. It's a gorgeous day: 60 degrees, clear sky, breezy (which should keep the mosquitos at bay; yes, they're already hatching). I have much to do at my bench, and much that I want to do, but today is one of those days I'd just like to run away and sit by myself outside somewhere. Perhaps I can do that for half an hour?