As a consequence of our quarantine, I’ve had a lot of time to watch movies. One movie, in particular, had a scene that struck me. A teenage girl was talking about how she hated her hometown, but when questioned as to why she wrote about it with such detail if she hated it so much, she responded that she just “pays attention”. To which the listener stated something along the lines of paying attention is more akin to love rather than hate.

Maybe it’s a bit early to be retrospective or analytical about the impact of COVID-19, but I think it’s safe to say that we are all paying more attention during this time. Attention to the ones we love, the things that are important and what life is really about.

Attention is to love what indifference is to hate. After all, you pay zero attention to what you couldn’t care less about. The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. I would go so far as to contend that one of the most hurtful things you can do to someone that loves you, is ignore them or be indifferent to them.

When you correct your child, you’re showing them love because you care enough to pay attention. When you sit down and talk with them about their future goals and dreams, you are telling them through your actions that you love them and you want what’s best for them. When your 5-year-old cries to you about her invisible boo-boo and you put a princess band-aid on it...isn’t it a wonder how it magically feels better? Simply by paying attention, you are showing love and that remedies so much pain.

Have you ever noticed how we all love our vacations in a certain city or, mountainside (as was the case in this picture on my way to Montserrat)...but wasn’t that only possible because we just really paid attention to the beauty those places had to offer? Have you ever noticed that the locals don’t typically have anything positive to say about their own city? But when they come to America, they absolutely love it. That’s because they’re paying attention. There’s a tendency to take what we have for granted. It’s easy to find the beauty in places and people if you’re paying attention. Likewise, it’s easy to overlook the beauty if you’re not.

During this quarantine, while Steve has been home, he has made breakfast for everyone in the family every morning. Paying close attention to how we each like our eggs, our dietary constraints, and the kids’ time restrictions due to distance learning. His attention is a manifestation of his love for his family.

I pray that this time has given you all the opportunity to pay more attention to the people that you love and what’s really important in life. It sure has done that for us.