What a transformation it is to be fond of someone. Fondness is what I have for my companions. One might call it love, but “love” is such a loaded and misleading word, almost like “God”. Fondness is more like the “love” in “loving kindness.” So you can call it love, but I prefer to think it of being fond.
Fondness may open doors in my heart I hardly knew were there. Fondness is unplanned and almost unintentional, except it helps if I have a random openness to become fond of people I meet.
Each realization of fondness is unique. Each fondness I experience expands my own awareness, and with it my heart. The impact is lasting, permanent, unless I deliberately close my heart.
My life is not focused on a singular companion, but I open my heart to many fond companions. For me fondness is not an expression of empathy, of my feeling what they feel. It is rather a connection of compassion, of loving kindness. I am open to an awareness that allows me to see with their eyes, to walk with their loving steps.
Sometimes it seems that I am almost moving inside their skin, aware as they are aware. I may have my own identity, but it is no longer singular and totally separate. I recognize the connection that is already there naturally. My recognition and experience of the natural connectivity with fondness allows it to endure.
With fondness, there is a joy in the companionship we share, but it is much more. It is an expression of an enduring connection, an extension of the moments when we experience the sharing of time and space. But only if I choose to allow the experience to occur.
Fondness is not a taking, not a possessing. It is an allowing in. It is an awareness that is shared and is always a part of me.