Generally, we don’t think of love as being seen. We think of love as an elusive feeling, something that must be given to us. We think of it as a magical potion that only a few have access to. Forget these boundaries, simply open your heart and take a look around. Love surrounds us, waiting to be discovered. Love is more than a romantic fantasy. Love can be felt, seen, and touched. Love is exchanged, shared, and forever present. It may be complex or simple.

How do I know this? I see love everywhere. Let me share with you what I experienced just in one day. Driving down a little carriage road in Boston, County Clare, I saw two cows hugging. They were lovingly hugging each other. Cows! Hugging! I stopped and luckily captured their affectionate moment. At the ending of it anyway, I think they were embarrassed because they stopped when I began taking their picture. While photographing the cows, I met a lovely lady who gave me apples from her tree. Stopping for lunch, I saw flowers blowing in the wind. The wind had lifted two small white flowers to a larger yellow flower. It looked as if they were hugging, embracing each other. I passed them later only to find them completely separate, one would never suspect their intimacy only a few moments earlier, but I have evidence. At Kilkee, I found two love birds snuggling in the sunshine. On my drive home, I stopped at a dairy farm for the birth of 0657’s first calf. I watched the mother clean her newborn. I saw the calf take his first steps. And then, within fifteen minutes of his birth, the mother fed her new baby. I met the farmer who was lovingly watching over them. After leaving the cows, I met a horse and her baby. I watched as the mother tenderly played with her little one. At the end of my day, sitting in a cafe with my heart overflowing, I smiled as I watched an elderly couple join hands as they strolled down the sidewalk.

Love is not the commercialized version that we have been taught to search for. It is so much more than that. It is not elusive, it is not something we must find. It is already present, within us, trapped beneath our pain, shame, and guilt. As we open our hearts, we remember the true version of love. We remember who we are and begin to recognize love in everything. We understand we do not need to capture, manipulate, or fear love. We simply must fearlessly open our hearts. It is a rhythmic ebb and flow of giving and receiving that creates an abundance beyond our imagination.

I see love. What do you see?