LOVE IS A PRACTICE

What Can I Say?

It feels like a contest between our shared reality and everything else. How familiar it is, how deeply human, to drift into this kind of chaos.

I have always loved Greek mythology. Madeline Miller, author of two of my favorite books on the subject, has a rare gift for making ancient stories feel endlessly alive. I could read them forever. Perhaps that is because the world we live in today is not so different from the one those stories describe.

The themes repeat themselves with astonishing consistency: anger, envy, pride, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed.

Consider your own story arc. Then reflect on the arc of your ancestors—your lineage, your humanity. The universe is not separate from this unfolding; it mirrors it. We live simultaneously on both a macro and a micro plane.

Which Greek character are you inhabiting right now? What drama have you been swept into? Which gods are blessing your path, and which are challenging it? What did you sacrifice to arrive here?

Our shared reality feels thick with fatigue. You can sense it everywhere—at work, in our communities, within our families. You see it on people’s faces: exhaustion, confusion, agitation. Some move through public spaces as if they are barely holding together the pain they can no longer carry alone.

The Greek pantheon feels close at hand. Know it. Believe it. Not as a force meant to punish us, but as a reminder that we are still the choosers of our lives—and of our shared human kindness.

Love Is a Practice

Love, and love alone, is the daily shift. It is an inward gift, always available. It is a ritual capable of transforming others.

Loving awareness is a lifelong practice. It teaches you to love what you truly see: nature, people, acts of service, and your own inner life.

In the Greek stories I return to, there are moments when an ordinary person stands at the edge of something terrible and pauses. They recognize that the next step is theirs to choose. Those moments matter. They remind us that no one can take your story away from you.

Please, bring peace inwardly and express it outwardly. Now more than ever, our communities need to see what real love looks like. Healing is possible—but love requires practice.

So practice often. And practice well.

With gratitude,
Matthew Schildkret
Founder, Creator, & Humble Guide
Late Sunday Afternoon