Rachel on the varieties of love

In one of my Spanish classes we have been reading the works of a famous Latin American writer named Carlos Fuentes. One of his books is called “En Esto Creo A/Z” this translates to “In This I Believe A-Z.” In this book he constructs a type of “dictionary for life” in which he alphabetically list different topics that are meaningful to his life and writes about them. One of my favorite topics is when he speaks of love and the many forms in which it can exist. One of the points in this section is what he calls the quality of attention, love as in the act of paying attention. He goes on to say to give someone your attention and to be open to receive their attention is a creative faculty and its condition is love. Perhaps my translation does not give it justice but in this quote he suggests that giving someone your undivided attention is the highest expression of love, in that time and better yet quality time is the best gift you could give someone as a representation of your love. If I could only pass down one bit of wisdom it would be that. The act of paying attention to another person is important whether it be to your family, friends, or random people you encounter throughout the day. The gift of time is the best present that a person can give so I suggest it be given wisely and with purpose. This is my nugget of knowledge that I still have to learn and practice myself…