The Art of Loving

Feb 6, 2026
The Art of Loving
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The Art of Loving: A Practice of Inner Connection and Shared Humanity

Love is often spoken of as a feeling — something that arrives, happens to us, or fades with time. Yet the deeper traditions of thought and lived experience suggest something else: love is a practice. A way of being. A discipline of attention.

In The Art of Loving, social philosopher Erich Fromm wrote that love is not merely an emotion, but an art that requires knowledge, effort, and presence. To love well, he suggested, we must learn it — as we would learn music, craft, or any meaningful skill. Love becomes less about possession and more about participation.

From this perspective, loving begins within and radiates outward — toward nature, toward friends and family, and toward those who may feel unseen in the wider community.

Inner Connection: The First Relationship

Fromm emphasized that the capacity to love others grows from our ability to relate to ourselves with honesty and care. Without inner connection, love can become dependent, fearful, or performative. With inner connection, it becomes steady.

Practicing inner connection may include:

  • Listening to our own needs without judgment

  • Recognizing where we feel guarded or open

  • Allowing stillness so we can hear what is true

  • Offering ourselves patience instead of pressure

When we cultivate this inner relationship, love becomes less reactive and more intentional. We begin to offer presence rather than expectation.

Connection With Nature: Love Beyond the Human Circle

Nature offers a quiet but profound model of love — one that is not sentimental, but sustaining. The natural world gives without spectacle and receives without resistance. It cycles, rests, nourishes, and transforms.

Spending time in nature can soften the edges of the self and expand our sense of belonging:

  • Walking among trees that stand together through seasons

  • Noticing how ecosystems support one another

  • Feeling the steadiness of earth beneath our feet

  • Remembering that we are part of a larger living system

Fromm wrote about love as an active concern for the life and growth of what we love. Nature invites us into this kind of care — attentive, reciprocal, and rooted.

Empathy for Friends, Family, and the Wider Community

Love becomes most visible in how we relate to one another. Friends and family offer daily opportunities to practice the art of loving — through listening, patience, and shared presence. Yet the circle of love can widen further to include those who feel isolated or disconnected.

To practice loving as an art is to recognize the humanity in others, even when we do not know them personally. Small gestures carry quiet power:

  • Reaching out to someone who may feel alone

  • Offering time without distraction

  • Extending kindness without needing recognition

  • Making room at the table, in conversation, or in thought

Love, in this sense, becomes a form of social responsibility — a way of strengthening the fabric that holds communities together.

Love as Practice, Not Perfection

Fromm’s central insight remains deeply relevant: loving is not effortless. It asks for attention, humility, and willingness to grow. It is not something we master once and keep forever. It is something we return to, again and again.

To practice the art of loving is to:

  • Stay connected inwardly

  • Remain open to the natural world

  • Extend empathy outwardly

  • Act with care, even in small ways

Love becomes less about grand declarations and more about daily presence.

A Living Practice

The art of loving is not confined to romance or special occasions. It lives in how we speak, how we listen, how we walk through the world, and how we include others in our awareness. It lives in the quiet decision to remain connected — to ourselves, to nature, and to one another.

When practiced in this way, love becomes both deeply personal and profoundly communal. It becomes a steady force that nurtures inner peace and collective well-being.

To love, then, is not only to feel — but to participate in the ongoing work of care.

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A New Year's Intention
  • Valerie M. Malla
  • connection and compassion
  • 0
A New Year's Intention
New Year and Inner Peace: A Season for Inner Connection and Shared Humanity The New Year often arrives wrapped in after-noise — of celebrations, expectations, and the pressure to improve ourselves. Yet beneath the turning of the symbolic calendar, there is another invitation waiting quietly: to begin again from inner peace. Not as a 'resolution'Or, even as an 'ambition'... but, as relationship — with inner-self, the living world, and with one another. Inner Connection: Returning to Self  Inner peace begins remembering — not as something we achieve, but as something we return to. The New Year break offers a rare pause, a moment to listen inwardly and intently, before moving forward ... Inner connection may be: Allowing stillness without judgment Acknowledging both growth and grief from the year past Offering kindness to the parts of ourselves that feel tired or uncertain Choosing presence over pressure When we meet ourselves gently, the year opens with steadiness rather than strain.  In this way, an invitation to move into the year ahead ... Connection With Nature: Grounding the Nervous System Nature, unlike humans, does not rush into 'January'.  It rests, recalibrates, and conserves in accordance with the environmental cues — modelling a rhythm that supports inner peace and sanctity.  Turning toward nature, as an example of how to start the year helps us settle into our own natural pace. Even small moments of contact can restore balance: Cold air that sharpens awareness Bare trees standing without apology Long shadows, and quiet light The earth holding everything, without demand Nature reminds us that renewal is neither forced nor linear, but subtle and cyclical. Empathy: Holding Friends, Family, and the Wider Community The New Year is not equally light for everyone. For some, it carries loneliness, grief, financial strain, or the quiet ache of being unseen. Our inner peace expands when it really sees 'others' and makes room for empathy — when we remember that our personal beginning is shared with our human cousins. Empathy during this season can be practiced through: Checking in without expectation Including those who may feel isolated Listening without fixing Offering warmth in small, sincere ways Attending an Empathy Circle Inner and outer peace deepens when it is not self-contained, but outward-facing and generously shared, without fear but with an open-heart.  Our own heart — and the heart of humanity — actually expands as a result. A Gentle Beginning, Together The New Year does not require reinvention. It invites reconnection — inwardly, ecologically, and socially. When we begin the year grounded in inner peace, we naturally move through the world with more patience, sensitivity, and care. This is how a year can begin differently:Not by striving to be more, but by being more present — for ourselves, for nature, and for one another. Inner peace, when shared, becomes collective strength.AumOui wishes you a wonderful and peaceful year ahead:)Keep in touch often.
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Chosen Friends & Family
  • Valerie M. Malla
  • chosen friends and family
  • 0
Chosen Friends & Family
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Autumn Bliss
  • Valerie M. Malla
  • 0
Autumn Bliss
There is something undeniably magical about autumn — a quiet shift that calls us out of our routines and back into presence. The air cools, the light softens, and nature begins to paint with deeper colours, inviting us to slow down ... breathe differently ... and engage with the world in a more playful, appreciative way.   ... Autumn is not just a transformation of the landscape ...... it is an invitation to reconnect with our inner world...   Play: Rediscovering Wonder Through Nature As leaves trade their greens for fiery golds, rusts, and crimsons, the world becomes a canvas that feels made for play!Autumn awakens the child-soul — the part of us that still remembers how to jump into raked piles of leaves, toss them into the air, or walk pathways just to hear that perfect crunch beneath our feet. Autumn play is not only physical; it can be imaginative, sensory, and deeply creative: Foraging for fallen treasures: acorns, feathers, pine cones, and smooth river stones Pausing to watch birds gather, squirrels store, and winds carry Trying new cozy hobbies — candle-making, journaling, herbal teas, wood-fire cooking Going on slow, unscheduled walks with no destination Appreciating the coupling of little animals whose tiny broodlings will make their appearance come springtime ... Play becomes an act of freedom ...... a small rebellion against the rushed world ...   Appreciation: Slowing Down to Truly Notice Autumn offers a unique form of beauty: not the vibrancy of spring’s beginnings, but the reverence of graceful change.It teaches us that transformation can be gentle, graceful, and breathtaking — even when it is a form of release. We are reminded to appreciate the simple things: The texture of knitted sweaters The smoke-sweet scent of firewood Warm mugs held between chilled hands The golden-hour light that arrives earlier each day The deep quiet of fog-wrapped mornings ... Nature becomes a meditation, guiding us back into gratitude ...   Personal Connection: Hearing the Whisper Beneath the Season Autumn has a way of speaking to the parts of us that crave meaning.There is an instinctive pull toward deeper reflection, memory, and self-awareness — as though nature’s soft decay mirrors our own inner transitions. We may feel more intuitive, more reflective, more open to journaling, dreaming, and emotional clarity.Autumn encourages us to: Let go of what no longer serves Honour what we have learned Prepare our hearts for what will come next   ... Where summer is outward and expansive, autumn turns us inward ...... not in isolation, but in tenderness ...... it reminds us that letting go can be beautiful ... Reflection ... Autumn is not merely a season; it is an experience — one made of colour, curiosity, warmth, and wisdom. When we approach it with playfulness, appreciation, and personal connection, we enrich not only our relationship with nature, but with the quiet, steady rhythm inside ourselves. Take a walk ...Open your senses ...Let autumn show you who you are becoming ...Embody the relaxation and alignment between nature and your inner spirit ...  allow yourself, gently, to become one ...
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