As Weil once said, “attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity” and I agree. Giving our attention to the people we love is the deepest gif.
Yesterday, a mother and daughter visited the studio to spend some quality time together. There were younger children at home and this time was for the oldest. She gave her daughter the most wonderful gift of her attentive time. For two hours they conferred on ideas, searched for materials that were just right and created lots of projects made with love. In the big picture of life it was just two hours , but the depth that was created was immeasurable.
Quality time doesn’t have to be much time at all. The secret ingredient is our attentiveness to it and the person we are sharing it with. Think back to precious memory moments in your life. What were they made of? My guess is they had to do with connective time. I remember a special moment with my dad. We were just sitting at the dinner table one night and he was drawing little pictures for me on scratch paper. They were of whatever I asked him to create. I must have been 9 or 10 then but four decades later I still remember that special time warmly. A little time goes a long way and I love that CReATE can be a part of building connective moments.