Some summers are busy. Some summers are loud. And some are remembered through smell, sound, texture, and taste. We are shaped by the environments that hold us and by the people who quietly become part of who we are. Even though I have lived far from home for many years, I realize that my siblings have never stopped shaping me.

What is devotion? I ask myself this often, as it is a word I frequently encounter in spiritual practices, books, and even love poems. It is defined as “religious fervor,” as well as “the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal,” and “the act of dedicating something to a cause, enterprise, or activity.”Skipping the first definition, I would say that you do not have to be religious to be devoted.

(I Followed Love to London) It wasn’t romance that called me across the ocean. It was something older, purer, fiercer. The kind of love that rewrites everything. I refuse to be a long-distance grandmother. I refuse to love my granddaughter through a phone screen, to know her only through videos: how she sleeps, how she eats, how she takes her first steps, how she grows. I wanted more. I wanted to live her childhood with her, every season, every stage.

"Attention is the beginning of devotion," - Mary Oliver In a cafeteria of 400 students, one little note made a child feel seen. Not many months ago, while talking with my daughters, I asked them a question: “If you had to choose just one, what is the happiest memory you keep from your childhood?” Sofi, who is 20 years old, answered almost immediately, “Your little notes in my lunchbox.”

Returning to What We Carry in Our Bodies There are places that do more than welcome us. They remember us. Uxmal is one of those places. Nestled along the ancient Puuc Route in the Yucatán Peninsula, Uxmal is not simply an archaeological site — it is a living landscape shaped by cycles, ceremony, and feminine intelligence. Built in harmony with the movements of the sun, the rains, and the Earth itself, Uxmal speaks in quiet ways to those willing to listen.

Love is often misunderstood as emotion alone. But love, practiced daily, is structured. In the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, love is not a feeling we fall into, but a practice of presence. True love is built on mindfulness, understanding, and compassion—not on attachment or need. He taught that love is made of four essential elements: loving-kindness (Maitri), compassion (Karuna), joy (Mudita), and equanimity (Upekkha).