I have not always felt that I was in the best position in the world to edit a journal dedicated solely to the subject of love. Fortunately that feeling has passed and I can happily say that I feel most qualified to do so today! I am at a place in my life that many of you will certainly recognize - sleep deprived, crazed, harried and frequently astonished over my three year-old's antics, up every two to three hours with an eight month-old and drained of all energy to the point where gibberish becomes my main form of communication with my husband, friends and almost anyone whom I come into contact with. And yet I tell my family and friends with utter honesty and conviction that I am, in fact, happier and more fulfilled than I have ever been in my life. It is because of love. I know that it sounds trite, and maybe it is, but I had no idea how deeply a human being was capable of loving until I became a life partner with my husband and then a parent. I had no concept of the way I would be caught in the undertow of love, swept out and held aloft by it, dragged under and nearly drowned by it, only to be rescued by it time and time again.

It is a complex thing, love, the absolute foundation for every other emotion we experience, including those we'd rather not admit to having - like hate, fear and pain. I am, on a daily basis, filled with the spirit of forgiveness, patience, endurance and acceptance, fear, intense anger, pain and incredible frustration, and of course an almost overwhelming and abundant sense of love. Indeed, I believe that without all of those components, love would not exist. Each of us, on some level and in some way in our lives, is experiencing love in a profound way.

We have assembled here for you a collection of deeply heartfelt writings, interviews, poetry and art that capture the essence of love for the individuals who created each piece but which will, I'm certain, ring a tone within each of your hearts. And that is the one thing that is crucial to the understanding of love; it is both individual and universal, personal and public. It's the love of parents for their children, children for their parents and grand-parents, first loves, last loves, the loss of a love or many loves, and the humor that must always accompany love. Love is life, love is the creator-God-spirit that we all come from, are a part of and must return to. It is the most important thing that we have. Now, come, read, look, and most of all enjoy these offerings of love from us to you.

Heidi Liscomb