The intimate flux of the give & take.

What we take must change. Day to day, in the short term, yes, but our take must also evolve over time as well.

The fluidity of our take throughout the day is more immediate, more a reaction. But if at some point we don't consider what we take from our loved ones and our surroundings, if we don't stop and take stock of our take, if we aren't deliberate about what we extract and when, how and from whom, we're likely to find that we’ve been taken by ourselves, that we’ve led ourselves astray.

There has to be a balance, a give and take of course, but they're also has to be a purpose that drives the take, a plan, a mutual understanding of what’s being taken, an agreement to define the process of giving and taking.

When we take, or when someone takes from us, there has to be an acknowledgment, we have to see each other and say: I am taking this, I know I am taking it, and I will bring it back in this form, or more likely as something different, something better, something I know you'll need.

To take creates a conversation. If we do it properly, that conversation nurtures the relationship and strengthens the partnerships, and ultimately allows the take to remain balanced and ensure it nourishes all involved.

But we must also understand that what we take and what our partners are willing to give will change.

Just because we have taken in the past does not mean we are guaranteed we’ll be able to take again in the future. To leave space for each other to give differently, to offer ourselves and our energy in new ways, is essential to continued growth together because this exchange, this give and take is a necessary act in any relationship.

If we are not giving ourselves to each other, if we are not taking from our loved ones, we are not intimately connected. If we are not aware of how to give ourselves freely, and take freely from others, we are not exercising our shared understanding of the expression of sensations in each other in times of loss and surplus; if we aren't paying attention to what happens when our loved ones gain something, when they lose something, how they take from loved ones and how they give themselves to loved ones, we remain unaware of the ebb and flow of these sensations within ourselves.

To be equally connected in times of abundance and loss, to be immersed in the flux of give and take, this is intimacy.