A new month is upon us, and one that typically holds great warmth or great dread, depending on how nestled you feel into love.

No matter where you are on the spectrum of feeling loved or not, though, and however hard it is to actually define it, I think all of us recognize love as a wonderful, beautiful thing. It’s what we yearn for, deeply, what we seek, fight for, protect, nourish, and sacrifice hugely on behalf of. And, conversely, what we mislabel, misunderstand, betray each other in search of, and grieve when it looks to be lost. Something this desired, this full of depth and breadth and weight in our collective hearts and minds, can’t help but have really large shadows.

There’s irony in that thought because love really does shrink fear, but I think the point remains: fear hangs out in love’s shadows. It breeds there. Our need and wish for and cherishing of love are all so intense that the thought of losing it or never finding it or actually being hurt by some version of it we’ve come to trust: the intensity of that fear often trumps all.

This site is all about tending trust, so I thought it fitting to walk into this month of love, so fraught with so much fear for so many of us, with an eye for growing trust in love’s shadow. This month, posts here will all orbit around love. I hope that with each one, the fears that we know in relation to love can begin to be brought into a safe and gentle light, and love’s shadow will begin to be filled with far less of them, and far more of the warmth and hospitality that love truly does contain.

In celebration of that warmth and that hospitality, everything in my Etsy store is 20% off for the month of February (to see what profits there support, click here). At check-out, use the 02LOVE coupon code to apply the discount. And if you’re looking for a Valentine’s gift, placing orders this week will ensure delivery by the 14th.

I’m also eager, at this blog’s young age, to find the people who might resonate with what’s happening here. If you like what you’re finding here, would you consider helping me spread the word about it? I’d be grateful for that warmth!

Here’s to love, in it’s purest form, and to a path of knowing and living inside of much more of it!

P.S. Lindsey Mead, of the blog A Design So Vast and our interview here last week, has graciously posted a reflection of mine in her space. I’m honored to be there and encourage you to explore the wonderful, trust-inducing work she’s doing there daily.