Work and Love (Nuria Ferrer)

One of my heroes, one of my colleagues, and one of my friends has weighed in with her beautiful 2 cents. In a twist, she's added 'work' a theme previous untouched in this still newborn blog. And there's a unique treatment of love as a freebie, a gift, ready for the taking. Read it for yourself.

"what matters to me is very clear: work and love.

now i'll proceed to complicate the shit with explanations. they get messy quick, because the one can't exist without the other. i feel like, in principle, work is selfish. it's what comes from inside you, from what you want to contribute to this aggregate life that we're all muddling through. it's what you would do anyway, even if you were alone, because of all you have learned and all you have seen. it's collaboration with excellent people, getting involved in the community you live in, talking to strangers, creating things, adding to the discussion. it's setting goals and trying to meet them, seeing how far you've come. it's setting yourself to a task, making yourself reliable and asking for help in return, learning that you don't get very far without trust and the sharing of burdens. it's making something that you can be proud of.

love is what's there, surprisingly, for the taking. something above and beyond what you would have asked for. it's also giving without expecting returns, finding your heart to be infinitely expansive, really believing that you would give yourself up for someone else. it's an imaginary buoy lodged in your chest. it's blue october skies and football if you were brought up on the east coast. it's tearing up at other people's graduations and birthdays and accomplishments. it's awe for the courage and steadfastness of your friends. it's seeing, and properly appreciating, the rarity and beauty of good people. it's believing when someone tells you they love you."