Some care is simply returning often enough to notice that something has changed.

Care is often imagined as intervention, the large gesture at the moment of crisis. Much of it is duller than that, and consists of showing up often enough to spot that a plant is drying out, a friend is quieter than usual, a parent’s cupboard is emptier than last month. Change is only visible against a baseline, and a baseline comes from returning. Frequency is what makes noticing possible.

Pick one person, plant or place and go back on a regular rhythm instead of when something already seems wrong. The point is being there often enough to see a difference.