Cultivating Love at Vivace

The rain pours down on Independence Day, and person after person swims over to Vivace to enjoy a superbly created espresso, complete with the signature leaf sculpted of the rich brown of coffee and the light white of the milk. The espresso guy receives me kindly and hears the question: "When does a boy become a man? You're a man of Seattle." You know, at least for you.

He pauses from his motion of creating coffee drinks and laughs. "You know, I think I just now got it, just as you said that question. Yes: I am a man!" And now he is blushing.

We laugh. God, how I love revelations. I am well pleased by this work. Everyone is infinitely brilliant and it's fun to watch them realize it.

A man named Michael Wong walks up. He hears about this project and says: "Use my name. If you're going to write about me, use my name." This is in contrast with demure West Seattle, where it's rare that someone actually wants their full name recorded.

Michael, a boy becomes a man when he takes on so much responsibility that he is challenged. "It does have to be a little hard," he explains. "That's when he steps up and becomes a man: when he's willing to provide."

Michael is about to order a coffee, and we begin to talk in that old familiar rhythm of the interviewer and subject, each one of us learning off one another, receiving and giving. Today, this self-described "person who thinks a lot" is thinking about love. "Sex is only sex unless there is love," he says. "Love is what grows. Love is an emotion. It's what you feel when you are holding hands. You can feel that person and their love and your heart melts. When you really love someone, you'd be willing to give your life for them. You walk with them in the park, and it's enough."

He words warm me. I know how he feels; I feel that wave of Love and the way it buoys me in this ocean of humanity and the beauty of Trust and Patience and Faith in both Love and Life.

Michael Wong walks back out into the rain. I wish him well. He is cultivating a love with someone and enjoying that inner glow felt when we give into our deepest longing to feel secure with ourselves and with another. The sky rains and rains and rains and we glow inside anyway.