Turning my thoughts into something beautiful for others– and consuming the beauty that others created– was the deepest form of care I’d ever felt. Up close, in my most caring relationships, I had found no secret, no clear sign of beauty at all. While reading Chang Rae-Lee’s A Gesture Life, I thought I’d found another rare glimpse of reality. It is scary to think that the beauty and sadness within us are so overwhelming, it makes no difference whether they come from within or without. I do not know if my words are evidence of love: language can create escape, or salvation, or beauty, but life creates only itself.