Love

Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.
--Rainer Maria Rilke

We talk a lot about love, but defining love is not as easy.  People who cling to each other may call it love.  Selfless caregiving may be called love.  Caring for and nurturing a child may be called love.  But, Rilke makes it more objective:  two solitudes who protect, touch and greet each other.  That protects the individuality of each person, as we are each solitudes in the world (though many suggest that we are not individual at all, but a part of a greater whole).  These solitudes recognize the other and choose to protect, touch and greet.  We can do that in partnerships, in families, in communities and with strangers.  How can we be more loving to ourselves and to each other?