"Love is blind," we say, but perhaps it is more accurate to say love
sees with different eyes. Love sees beyond the surface. Love opens the
door for beauty. When we see with the eye, we develop the ability to
refine, to judge, to discriminate. When we see with the heart, we
expand the view of what it is to be human, see the common dream,
see the wisdom of friends and neighbors, see there is no separation
between that which is most beautiful and the everyday world. The eye
of the heart sees with a wholeness that allows imperfections and
idiosyncrasies to coexist with beauty. The eye of the heart knows
surface and depth are not opposites. Beauty is a process, a
revelation, not a finished state. Beauty reveals itself over time in
relationship. The people I love are beautiful to me. I'm not sure if my
eyes are blinded by love or it is love that lets me see their beauty.
Knowing them over time, my appreciation of who they are and how
they appear increases. Their beauty comes from their liveliness and
authentic sweetness, their intention to live lives that make some
sense (and some nonsense), the spirited coherence of being who they are.