Jane Ha

“Being present builds a child’s confidence because it lets the child know that she is worth thinking about. Without this, a child might come to believe that her activity is just a means to gain praise, rather than an end in itself. How can we expect a child to be attentive, if we’ve not been attentive to her? Being present, whether with children, with friends, or even with oneself, is always hard work. But isn’t this attentiveness – the feeling that someone is trying to think about us – something we want more than praise?”
― Stephen Grosz, The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves

“Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.”
― Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”
― G.K. Chesterton

“Sometimes there are no rules.”
― Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver