As my personal life has gone through immense and uncomfortable changes, of late, I looked out the window today and noticed an old house that sits on its rocky and miniature island in Branford, Connecticut.  This house that we all called “House Island,” through my youth, still appears (at least from a distance) to be in good shape and unscathed.  I thought to myself, in looking at this house, how many years had passed (as I am approaching 49) and how much may have had to be done to preserve this house over the years.  It’s funny; one can look at the living result of something, and take the actual living process for granted.  One could look at this house and say – wow, that house is still standing – it hasn’t changed a bit.  But the truth is always that there is continuous change; even as some things don’t really appear to have changed.
 

I don’t really know how many coats of paint or other maintenance related efforts were required to keep the semblance of what was.  But there usually is something required to stay present and whole.
 

When it comes to the intrinsic components of having a healthy and successful relationship with another human being, there are so many parts to its maintenance and continued creative creation that I would not even try to begin assert that I know very much about it to a large and/or successful degree.  I would like to say that I am an authority on such, but there would no truth in my words.  But the thoughts of how much it may have taken to keep that house on “House Island” in tact can and does reveal a truth about life itself.  I hope that I can begin to take this realization to the point that brings forth wisdom unto my living and my relationships with others.
 

Everything takes a great deal of care and proactive maintenance.  I can only say that I must focus on learning about that reality from a more proactive standpoint than ever before.
 

Love requires maintenance (perhaps more than anything does); just as surely as the paint for a house or the preservatives used in protecting anything in life!  This may well be where the truth of love lives!