Author: edvideoplus

We started with a pretty simple question—though it’s not an easy one.

What would it actually take to create a future that’s not dystopian or apocalyptic…
but genuinely livable?

Not just for a few people.
For communities. For society.

We weren’t looking for a policy solution or a new movement.
We were wondering whether there was something ordinary people could do—together—that might actually make a difference.

A turning point came when, through a friend, we met Rosa Zubizarreta, who wrote a book called From Conflict to Creative Collaboration. She shared work that’s been happening quietly around the world.

Small groups of people—very small groups—taking on really big issues.
Separatism in Canada. Immigration in Germany.
Citizen councils in places like Austria that actually help inform public decisions.

What struck us was this:
These groups weren’t debating or trying to convince each other.
They were listening in a very particular way—and something smarter than any individual started to emerge.

That insight stayed with us.

We ended up writing a screenplay called The Gatherings, imagining a future where this kind of process had become normal—where, when people faced complex issues, they simply came together in small, well-facilitated Gatherings.

And then something unexpected happened.

People read the screenplay and said,
“Okay… but how do we do this now? In our community?”

So we stopped imagining the future and started experimenting in the present.

Gatherings need skilled facilitation, and Rosa agreed to help us train facilitators. We began offering Facilitator Intensives via Zoom, and now we’re holding our first in-person Gathering—January 23rd and 24th in Brooklyn.

This isn’t about advising government officials or representing a constituency.
It’s about coming together at a grassroots, human level.

And here’s something important to understand about Gatherings:

A Gathering is not joining a group.
It’s not a membership.
There’s no ongoing obligation.

Each Gathering is a one-time event, intentionally complete in itself.

You come together with people you may or may not know.
You bring what genuinely matters to you.

There’s no debating, no persuading, no trying to win an argument.

Instead, something shifts.

People experience a sense of relief—
like, oh… I’m not alone with this.

There’s a feeling of trust, even among people who started out as strangers.
Often there’s clarity. Sometimes a concrete project or next step emerges.
There’s a sense of being part of something bigger than oneself.

We sometimes describe Gatherings as being like breathing.

Coming together is like an inhale.
Leaving—taking action, living your life—is the exhale.

You don’t stay in one Gathering forever.
Later, you might attend another Gathering, with different people, with different emerging issues.

Inhale. Exhale.
Again and again.

There’s a natural rhythm to it—more like waves than meetings.

Many of us have had moments—maybe at camp, or on retreat, or in a rare conversation—where we touch something essential about what life could be like.

The problem is… those moments fade.Gatherings are a way of keeping that aliveness going.
Not by escaping the world,
but by learning how to meet it—together

I’m writing this the day before our facilitation intensive with Rosa Zubizarreta-Ada September 25, 2025

When I retired from my counseling practice several years ago I began the process of convincing myself that my life was over, i.e.  time to live my life in a more relaxed presence with the emphasis on “live.”  I literally resisted taking on responsibility for anything other than my daily life and even that was suspect.  I have been a “kept” man living on my social security and Laurie’s part time counseling.  I discovered that “living” needs more than relaxing and I began  feeling more like my life was falling apart along with the country I grew up loving and respecting.  I began feeling pulled down by what I thought was truth rather than be inspired by it.  

The one consistent message I kept hearing from those individuals that I respected was to turn my attention to the people closest to me, i.e. family and friends.  In a world that seemed to be crumbling those were the people with whom  I could develop trusting support groups. I’m assuming that many of us did that.

Somewhere In that process of trust building  I watched the Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up”.  The premise of that movie is that soon a comet is going to smash into the earth.  All life will be destroyed.  In fact if you looked up you could see the comet in the sky.   Some people were panicking about the coming disaster and what to do about it.  Others (perhaps more) argued the point that the story of the comet was not true and their advice to deal with the coming disaster was simply to not “Look “Up.”  I suppose they were thinking that if you do not see the comets in life they simply do not exist.

I discovered that “Looking up” is a vocation and life stance whether I am retired or not.  And it requires a looking in as well as a looking out.   This brings up a question.  How can I “Look Up”, be totally appalled  by the situation and not allow the coming disaster to alienate me from those people who see the disaster differently or simply refuse to “Look Up”. 

“Looking Up” does not erase differences in priorities  or solve  conflicts in values or morals.  

“Looking up” gives me a self  righteous point of view, but does not produce any solutions to the predicament.   Only actual conversations and understanding  of each other’s heart can bring that. This begins with knowing and sharing what is important to each of us,  and hearing the truth  that is the person in front of you.  I believe that those incidences of hearing are points of social and personal transformation that moves society forward.  It is also the personal juice that gives this retired “kept man” a reason to have a future.  

https://www.co-creatingdesiredfutures.net/(opens in a new tab)

Today the sky is cloudy and the forecast is for rain.  I’m never really sure of these things – these days. While I do have strong thoughts and  feelings about what is true and right ,  thoughts and feelings do not make for strong rational arguments.  I often jump to saying what seems to be practical and simple rather than waiting for what is well thought out and planned. 

In our screenplay, The Gatherings, when Micah is confronted with the fact that some people in 2024 had no place to live, he says. “Why didn’t they just give them a place to live?”.  We live in times where the belief that access to housing, food, healthcare, transportation, and abundant living should be considered a fundamental human right is considered a delusional dream.  

Reality is heart wrenching. A friend of ours in California has friends who are being kidnapped from bus stops in their neighborhood. There is a rapid response team set up to let people know when kidnappings are happening near where they live.  She gets as many as a hundred notifications in an hour.  

In the meantime, here we are, talking about neighborhood Gatherings. Events where people listen and hear each other’s concerns  and move toward a community action.   Seems small, petty even. Working locally on simple things when reality as we know it is crumbling.

(By the way, the sun just came out).

Discovering Rosa Zubizarreta and Tom Atlee has been a godsend for  me.   Reading Tom Atlee’s blog on “Deliberative Democracy” is a gold mine for the future.    For years they have been doing the research and work that Laurie and I have written into The Gatherings screenplay.  They have written about the transformation we are going through now and the effect and power of A.I. in the future.  Truly we are living through an  existential shift.  Reality is literally changing.  We have no choice about this.  The shift is already here producing a sense of unreality in many of us. The earth is literally melting along with our sense of well being, our sense of morality,  our sense of purpose.  Why are we on this planet anyhow? 

We have also been thinking a lot about the concept of “Continuous Participatory Governance” as reflected in “The Gatherings”.  We envision an interaction between the people who meet in Gatherings and the A.I.  that collects, analyzes, and instantaneously organizes projects into a “mycelial network” connecting humanity.

We do have a choice however.   We can choose whether to try to recreate the past (not what I want). Or to design and create a different kind of future,  taking into account all the environmental, economic, and social  factors, and using A.I. as a partner in creating  our well being. 

In doing research for the screenplay, perhaps the greatest discovery we have made is this shift  has been going on for some time. Many people are working on the transition. Skillful people.  We are not alone. 

In the tradition of being practical and simple,  we are the dream,  and dreams are impossible  until the moment they become real.

You are invited to read or listen toThe Gatherings screenplay.

Over the last year or so Laurie and I have been writing  a screen play which we call The Gatherings.  It is written in the style of a movie script.  My intention along the way has been to use this script as a distraction that keeps me focused on some possibility of a positive future.  This intention has been fairly successful as an aid to   keep me focussed and not spiraling  off into hopelessness and negativity.  There are very few movies or visions of the future presently being projected that portray the future as anything but destructive  and dystopian. I truly believe the world is stuck, like we have been, in a paradigm that creates a future that can only lead to divisions and violence.   This was our motivation for creating  the  idea of “The Gatherings”.

In the last few weeks we have been contemplating what is next for our screenplay.  Is it really a movie?  We have been getting people to read it and give us feedback.  Perhaps we could promote it by using it as a reading since producing a whole movie is a daunting project.  We have had many thoughts about what to do and much very good feedback.  Mostly positive and some very daunting and thought provoking.  The next step for this project has seemed illusive and and sometimes confusing.  

Laurie and I got quite excited when we attended a workshop on Dynamic Facilitation. DF is a collaborative process of creative problem solving which focuses on the power of listening as a transformational tool in groups.  We based the whole screenplay on this experience.  Our history as therapists and searchers of truth has given us many experiences of how feeling heard and  “gotten” transforms individual’s lives.  However through the years I have  become aware that although personal growth and transformation is vital it does not necessarily lead to change in society.  We live in a particular  era of extraction and individualism that ultimately rewards greed and creates destructive social structures.  This includes government and social norms.  Our excitement about Dynamic Facilitation comes from our experience that it is not only about individual transformation but it can lead to social change as well.  

I recently discovered that fundamental to DF is that it creates the space for “collective  creativity”.  DF may not  be the only process that does this but it is the only one that we have encountered. 

So here we are with this screenplay; written by literally the two of us.  Ready to present it to the world and somewhat stuck on what to do next.  And then it occurs to us that if collective creativity is what the screenplay is about then perhaps we could use it to strengthen the screenplay  and to boost its  influence and impact.

I imagine inviting a group of interested people to come together (virtually)for this purpose.  Not just any group, but individuals who want to participate in the  DF experience,  and have  their ideas become part of the excitement of enhancing The Gatherings screenplay.  In a sense our screenplay becomes yours.  If you are interested in knowing more about this project let me know by using the contact button or on messenger in Facebook or any way you know how to contact me and I will get back to you and put you on our mailing list.

by Terry Sterrenberg

 For as long as I can remember I have always believed in omni-partiality. (New word for me)   I have always believed that everyone should benefit and be successful: that the structures of life lean toward healing if we get out of the way.  That makes my life task literally to pay attention, to listen, and to be a vehicle  of that healing in whatever way I can.  That being said I have also let myself throughout my life be convinced and shut down by what I interpreted as others communicating to me that what I felt inside was basically immature and naive:  unnatural and impossible.  My inability to communicate my inner life contributed to this as well. The present paradigm taught that to me and I bought it.  

I now believe that there is such a thing as the “other” paradigm, i.e. a cooperative, collaborative, and transformational paradigm.  Without fully distinguishing it I have instinctively been trying to create it my whole life.  I became a christian minister and then a therapist.  Both gave me glimmers of a new life paradigm.  There have been moments that have kept my search going, but mostly I have felt alone and dismissive of those emotions, sensations, and feelings, thinking they do not fit in to real life.  I mostly look out my window and think that a breakthrough into the collaborative/transformational Paradigm is like believing in magic.  Does it really exist?  Not really.   By definition I (We) cannot see/experience the “new” paradigm from this paradigm. We need to dip our toe in it and absorb the energy.   And literally change our minds. And yet perhaps the truth is  that the new paradigm exists in the same space as the old one.  What changes is in us, our vision – not a perspective, but an expansion of our ability to see/hear/feel /sense/intuit/experience  a bigger or whole reality of the moment. How does it all fit together – today?

The example of citizen groups in Germany is hopeful.  This is the pathway Laurie and I would like to illustrate in our screenplay.  However, one problem I am having is figuring out how to create that moment of leap in consciousness when participants know the new paradigm. Is it a process or is it an event or perhaps both.  That moment seems  random and again somewhat like fantasy and magic. Maybe the process is and the event evolves from Dynamic Facilitation.

I appreciate the dynamic of iteration in contrast to a process of incrementation.  A ubiquitous system of DF citizen groups might move us toward that “other paradigm.  But how would that happen? That is what we are thinking we want to bring together in the screenplay. 

I have been reading the entries in my blog of the time just before we moved to Ganas, I.e January 2015-July 2015.  We moved to into Ganas in July 2015 with the intention of staying there for a long time.  As you know we moved out of Ganas in May 2021 into the  housing Coop that we are now living.  I am somewhat surprised how clear I was in 2015 about  what  we were looking for  in our journey.  I wrote about the “Breakthrough” of moving”, “Preservationist” communities, and “The Villaging Project” with much clarity.  And then I stopped writing for two years until November of 2017. Our priorities shifted somewhat from looking at Healthcare in the United States to looking at the social systems that can establish the mechanisms  for communities to take charge of their own lives.  This was a time of great learning and personal growth for me and led to the creation of our newest movie “The Dream We Choose” which portrays how we  have dealt with our lives to move  beyond the traditional American Dream as well as our search for communities that have done the same.   Ganas has been one of those communities.

I have a great deal of respect for intentional communities like Ganas.  I have some understanding of the courage and commitment it takes to create and  live in one. It is very difficult. I also understand that most intentional communities operate in the  paradigm of what Jack Reed has called an “everyone for themselves,” paradigm.  That is the paradigm in which they exist. They have no choice.  I am not saying this as a criticism.  The mindset and structure they have as a community exists in an everyone for themselves world.  They are trying to be an island of cooperation in an ocean of individualism.  I don’t have a solution to this if there needs to be one.  But I do have an example that   helps me when I get stuck.

I use to counsel couples.  Along with my successes many couples never made it past the fourth session.  What I discovered was that around the fourth session couples become conscious of the fact that change in their relationship will require personal changes and not just changes for their partner.  New consciousness forces a decision.  They have got to decide individually and as a couple whether to continue with their counseling, I.e. move into a new stage (paradigm) of their relationship and make personal changes or to stay put.  When I become conscious of something new I have to decide to make personal changes or stay put. It is a personal “Aha!” experience.  Personal changes change the world and new relationships are made and new communities are born.  

Our time at Ganas was a time of personal reflection and growth that was modified and amplified by the hyper political divisions happening in the country at that time and by the effects of the pandemic.  Along with everyone else in the country this time has changed our life.   I lost my clarity.   I am gradually getting  it back.  

Personal growth is always somewhat traumatic for me.  Although I invite it I also, almost always,  resist it.  And that is the core of the matter.  Living at Ganas I discovered how difficult developing productive community  life is and I began questioning my ability to do so, i.e. to make the personal changes. I was (am) not sure I could do those things.  

Recently I remembered I DON’T HAVE TO DO THEM! (At least by myself) That is a kind of thinking that must evolve. It originates and resides in the  “an everyone for themselves world.”  What is a required  is… “a shift of consciousness.’  And the first step toward that paradigm is not gaining the skills.  It is making a decision.  And the decision is as Reed says “to expand your (my) consciousness to include the welfare of the entire planet.” Jack Reed, The Next Evolution, p.5)

Even though I know this I have many desires and habits that get in my way that I seem to be unable to give up and make me feel that if the existence of the planet were up to me we’d be doomed. Can an individual struggling in his own evolution help save the planet?  I hope so because that seems to be most of us.  

Three areas of growth seem crucial.  1. Economic growth that moves us away from dependence on a financially based system, 2.  Social structures that encourage and support cooperation between groups, and 3. Expansion of personal consciousness and good will.

Some who read the post that follows this wanted to see the original letter I wrote. My only hesitation in publishing this is that I have always believed (even when I wrote this that Love is more powerful than Hate. Having said that here it is (slightly edited

Terry Sterrenberg – May 24th, 1969

While in Philadelphia I learned to identify an emotion that I had practically abolished from my existence. It was completely foreign to me and made me very uncomfortable. This was the emotion of hate. I learned to hate and I inherited the foundation for an enduring hate. And what I learned to hate, society, was you.

Yes society I hate you. I hate your money, the root of your indifference. I hate your technology because it is more important than your People. I hate your people because they blindly follow you, cop unconcerned about themselves and other people that they will never know who they really are. I hate them because they don’t strive to learn the truth. I hate them because they don’t act after they learn the truth. I hate them because they are you. I don’t like to hate . I just do.

I hate you but hate doesn’t make any difference. Hate does not change you. You’re like a baby throwing your food all over the floor and then asking for more. Eat and be nourished; and build strong muscles, for if you don’t you will starve and die. I hate you but it makes no difference, because. you see I am part of you. I make you what you are. Hating you is to hate me as well.

Why is it that people are so unimportant? Because I want a new car and a nice house People are unimportant. I hate my new care but I want it just the same. Why do I ask “Who is that person before offering my hand. Because I’m scared; scared of you, oh society, scared of you! I need you, you monster. I need you for my self. I need your greed and your technology. But society, what is their priority on life. I need your People most of all. I need your people. There is a void in me until they fill it and make me whole. I need you society. Let me know your People. Let me know your People. I don’t like to hate. Let me know your People.

And society don’t betray. Let me know your People. Could it be that I want a utopia where people strive to understand each other – a utopia where I can call you my friend. Utopias live only in hopes and dreams. Tell me, my teacher, what else is there to drive me on? Idealistic dreams are my salvation. They let me see you in new clothes toddling playfully about without spitting back. But balloon dreams explode at the hand of reality and I am suffocated by the poisonous gas of hate inside and I realize that my fantasies are merely masks hiding the grotesque features that are really yours. You monster, society! I hate you.

You haunt me. I cannot get away from you because I am indeed part of you, a strand of hair, a lonely tear, an ingrown hair, or perhaps an itchy finger wanting desperately to tear off your cotton swabs and bandages, freeing your diseased skin to the coolness of air in preparation for a new kind of treatment. You selfish demon! You coward! I am scared of you, but you are scared of me too. I don’t believe in you. I hate you and hate in the least can “motivate” change. Oh, yes change; Change in me and I AM part of you. I can be me. In the mist of your construction of me I can say “Stop! Let me do it! Let me construct me. Let ME love; Let ME think: let ME feel”, for to love, to think, to feel is to be human. I need you. But society, you also need me, to shout from the tallest roof tops. “Stop! Let me do it.”

You are a baby; and I am your mid-wife. Strange, I thought it was the other way around. You need my love to grow. Let me love you. And I need you too. Let me know your People and let your people know me. I don’t want to hate . I just do.;

But you conspire, you dragon of deceit. You hide traps in your scheme for human betterment, dictating a pseudo righteousness built on a ledge of self preservation like a giant maze, a great puzzle to solve, a path to follow. And the maze of righteousness soon becomes a web to catch and to keep. The ropes become tighter and “human ears” b ecome deafer. But some will hear and fight. Some will begin to shout for themselves detering themselves forever from the utopias of balloon dreams and saving themselves from your conspiracy to make them stagnant shells of human potential. While others will get away only to be caught in their own web of pride and confusion

You need me for your enemy, you monster. Otherwise you would surely die. You need me to nag you on. you need me to force you to walk forward and analyze your signals. You need me to hate you.

and for this

I shall l remain

Terry Louis Sterrenberg

Terry Sterrenberg

December 19, 2023

In In May of 1969 when I was 21.  I wrote a paper I called “A Letter to Society”.  I had just come back from a life changing experience in Philadelphia.  This was an urban semester  away from my College DePauw University in Greencastle Indiana. I grew up in a small Illinois town of only 10,000 people, so living in the city was traumatic in a good way (life opening).  My life was shaken at its roots as was my mid western value system which was very tight and meaningful for me.  I grew up in a liberal Methodist religious tradition with a primary focus on Social action.  I also grew up feeling it was better to be quiet than to say something “not nice” to someone.  Yes indeed  Hate was something I thought I had extinguished from my self. That semester I became aware of my feeling of Hate.  

My initial thought in writing today was that perhaps it was time to rewrite that letter from my present  life.  I don’t know if that is possible or even desirable.  That letter really stands on its own. Perhaps a new letter is called for. So here goes.

Hey Society, when I went to Philly I learned to hate.  And what I learned to hate was you.  Since then I have learned some things but you know what, I still hate you.  Particularly in today’s world where your goodness is being diminished and your people are pretending not to care and feel powerless.  I really do hate you.  You have  created alternative realities that make lying and deceit an acceptable strategy to get what  a person wants in the world.  And you have created a world where  facts and truth  are too easily ignored in making decisions.  I hate you for this.  I don’t like to hate I just do.   You have made fear a primary deterrent for Truth. People stop looking and become shells waiting to be filled with “facts” that support only their own self interests, perceptions, and beliefs.

Fear overwhelms me and becomes the dark kernel at the center of my Hate.  I don’t like it.  I Hate it even more than Hate itself can generate.  It makes even the greatest hope seem like nothing more than a possibility.  

Let me ask you, “Are you the one that determines who I am, what I feel, and what I do?  Or is it the other way around, ie that I determine who you are, what you feel, and what you do?  Even in the worst of times,  I can and must continue to say, “Stop!  Let me do it,” I know you still need that from me and you always will. It may not look the same at 76 that it did at 21 because over the years I have learned to love you as well as Hate you. And I love  your people.  We have fought  many battles, you and I out of hate and out of love.  You need to practice your listening skills and I need to upscale  my speaking skills.  I often think “Not may years left.  Perhaps in another lifetime. “ 

Still I need you to respond now!  I need your integrity intact!  So that I can trust my own intuition.  So I can intuit your signals for change.  So I can interpret  your changes as direction signals for promise and hope.  We are partners, you and me.  Our mutual survival makes life whole.

by Terry Sterrenberg

I have been asking this question my whole life.  What do I want? What do I want? 

My mother sometimes would call me selfish when I answered that question (what do I/you want) and now I feel like a four year old  when the world does not correspond to what I want it to be, asking for the sky to be blue on a rainy day.

I have a lot of people I know that  are certainly going through rough times – much rougher than me – and my life has turned out pretty amazing so far.  Still I envision a life with even less stress and more opportunities.  I say I want that for everyone and that some how my presence can magically bring it to them. What I really want is to be  a real magician where my touch, my glance, my breath brings well being and sustenance to others,  and that creates a world of peace and understanding.   (Wow, now I feel like a Miss America). 

Still, I believe there is a possible future where access to life giving relationships and processes actually feed our souls just by living our daily lives; where living our daily lives means we are part of a symbiotic  give and take culture that  by its essential nature nurtures and sustains us in the most joyous and cooperative way.  

I realize this is selfish but I don’t want to have to work at it.  I just want to live it effortlessly.

Having stated this improbable if not impossible dream I come back to not really knowing what I want if I can’t have that.  And not having magical powers of which I am aware Is there anything I want on the way to that dream.  I guess I want to live with people who have a similar cooperative dream.  Dreams are reality in the making and living them results in  transformation.  I want a group that is driven by a belief in the goodness of life itself to “work it out”, Which means my job is to pay attention.   I want to be a part of a  group that realizes the power of listening, self reflection, and cooperation. 

If  ever I was selfish  (and I assume I certainly was),  now is that time to be selfish.  It is a time to truly take care of ourselves.  The irony of course is that means also taking care of everyone else.

by Terry Sterrenberg

Monday was Laurie and my 41 wedding anniversary and I’m exhausted.  I don’t think those two are really related however. It is more likely my 75 years that is the major factor of my feeling tired. The 41 is what helps me feel like I’m 30.  We spent literally five days celebrating by going out to eat exploiting our diet and doing touristy things like going to Summit One (which presents a great view of the city as well as other experiences).  We even went Ball Room Dancing. I Loved it.  And doing it with Laurie.

When I think of it as 41 years the time seems long.  When I look through my experience it seems that we just got married.  Being single seems like  another life time.  I had wanted to get married. My parents appeared to have a good marriage and it seemed like the natural thing to desire. So I studied it like it was something I could learn and I became a marriage counselor.  I was 34 when we got married and learned that a “good” marriage was the exception not the rule. 

Laurie often says that she loves me which  creates many sweet moments between us.  I sometimes wonder why she loves me.  I know why I love her.  She has made my love life (not just sex here) real instead of a fantasy.  She pays attention to me.  She appreciates my presence.  Before we got married I drove to Edmonton Alberta through a snow storm to visit her.  During one of our conversations I got the impression that she had not been treated great in some of her past relationships with men.  I felt she had been kind of used and then left.  I told her that I  would not do that and that I was not going anywhere.  Little did I know the magic in those words.  When I ask her why she still loves me after all these years I half expect her to say something like “ Well. I’m used to having you around,” but instead she has often referred back to that conversation when I told her I wasn’t “going anywhere.”  She says that hooked her.  “You’re still here and I love you.”

When I spoke at my son’s marriage I told them to let each other know they loved each other every day.  Not an easy task unless they recreate their  relationship every day and not just take it for granted.  Perhaps that is the secret  for a good marriage. At the time I thought it was good advice.  In my case I discovered very early that marriage was indeed a  daily creation based on commitment.  It became my primary commitment.  It became my top priority and I molded my life around being married to Laurie instead of molding my marriage around individual  opportunities and tasks. I believe Laurie did the same.  I feel very fortunate to have been able to do this and I know it is not possible for everyone.   This may sound like I gave up a lot.  In fact the opposite was true.  The spaces we have moved through  and created  as a couple  have been enormous and exciting. I have done many many more things that I would have never done in my life than  not done because I was married.   I also learned very quickly that Marriage was by far the best personal growth exercise I have ever done.   This was not something I thought much about before getting married, i.e. that relationships especially intimate relationships are about growth and not about solving my issues with being lonely or feeling unloved or feeling like I reached a goal. 

Being in love for 41 years is the greatest gift I could have ever received in my lifetime.  Thank you Laurie for sticking with me. You have made real for me a fundamental belief I have, and that is that love is the juice, the power, and the magic that creates and sustains life.