"I appreciate you..."

I'm always fascinated with the ways that people can lift up other people.  We live in a world that is often a little too corrosive and vindictive and sometimes the use of the world 'love' can be a little too widespread.  I mean, I love tacos, too, but that changes the word itself in some ways.  I wish we had more words that mean something similar so I can talk about my mother in a different way than I talk about tacos. 

But this isn't a blog about that....or maybe it is.

There are lots of ways we can talk about and to others that show we see them for who they are and that we accept them just as they are.  This seems a remarkably important topic this month.  Happy Pride for those who celebrate!

This is a blog about the ways which we can acknowledge the joy we find in the company of others.  We don't often just say, "Hey, I like you" - though maybe we should.  I have so many people in my life that mean different things to me...and recently, I gathered some of them together and connected some overlapping threads that I thought needed to be connected.  During this time, one of them said something that she has said before and it struck me even more than it had because of the situation during which it was said.  

I appreciate you.

It seems so simple....but the more I think about it, the more I see how many layers it has.  Not in any kind of negative way, but it has layers.  It suggests acceptance of who you are - faults and strengths alike.  It suggests acceptance of the entire person.  I don't know that it is better than 'love', but it feels different.  Maybe it's because it is less common.  Maybe it's because 'love' is used in so many different ways.  Maybe it was because it followed the same person saying, "I like the humans you collect."

I do, too.

This is a short blog...but I have decided I can't worry about length.  I just need to say what I have to say and send it off into the world.  That is the only way I'm going to be more frequent with these blogs.

I have things to say.  I don't have to take a long time to say them.

Also, I appreciate you.