"Most relationships are formed unconsciously through the interplay of our habits, mindless behaviors, unacknowledged and unspoken expectations and assumptions. Is it any wonder that so many of our relationships seem so problematic and so far out of balance? When you invite yourself and others to be more conscious in your relationships, you create the opportunity to let your relationship become more choiceful and creative. Understanding this, the artist Vicent Van Gogh once said, "To live, to work, to play are really one. If you ask me, the most creative thing we can do is to love people." To turn our relationships into works of art takes a high level of honesty, objectivity, patience, and commitment. Mindful moment to mindful moment, the choice is always yours: succumb to the momentum of unconscious habits, or intensify mindful awareness to understand what is really going on and creatively, compassionately enhance it."
Michelle and Joel Levey, excerpted from Living in Balance