What would love do now?

It’s the question I ask when I find myself lost in a difficult conversation, a conversation that seems to be getting more difficult by the moment, a conversation in which I’m reaching up for air but sinking further into the muck.

What would love do now?

It’s the question that I can grab and use to hoist myself up when I feel myself sinking.

What would love do now?

It’s not a question I ask out loud. It’s a question I ask quietly inside my head. It grounds me, reminds my why I care about this conversation and the person across from me. They may be my love, my friend, my client, my neighbor.

What would love do now?

I found this question several years ago in a book by Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul (affiliate link). It’s his question, maybe even someone else’s before him. And it became mine too. When I saw it, I stopped. I knew instantly I had found an important question, one that would guide me.

What’s your question? The question that stops you when you need to stop. Or the question that keeps you in your most important conversations at a time you’d prefer to run. Or the question that centers you when you’ve lost your balance. Do you have your own question?