We had the good fortune of connecting with Irene Greaves and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Irene, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Through Lovescaping, I attempt to address what I deem to be the single most essential, urgent and timely need in our world: learning to love. I believe this should be the most important purpose of education. What are we teaching our children and to what end? Is there anything more vital than equipping our humanity with the tools to develop self-love and love for others? Imagine the humanity of tomorrow, based on a system of trust and respect, where organizations are led with honesty, resolving conflicts with empathy and humility; where we are taught to forgive; where we express our concern for one another through solidarity and caring actions; where we celebrate being vulnerable; where we extend our compassion to share our suffering; where we communicate clearly and unabashedly; where we value patience as we understand that important things take time; where we practice gratitude for all the small daily joys; where our liberation is tied to each other, and where we never lose hope and use it as a guiding light throughout our life. This humanity is possible if we learn to practice Lovescaping.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My program is called “Lovescaping” and it seeks to teach socio-emotional skills through the practice of learning how to love. Lovescaping is based on the premise that we can learn to love, and that in order for us to put love into practice we need to very intentionally and purposefully learn how to practice its 15 “pillars:” respect, care, honesty, communication, empathy, trust, patience, compassion, liberation, humility, vulnerability, solidarity, hope, gratitude and forgiveness. The goal of the program is for individuals to develop self-love and love for others through community circles, immersive activities, games and reflective discussions. I have been implementing my 17-session Lovescaping program (one class per pillar, plus intro and conclusion) at different public schools throughout the city of Houston, working with students of all ages, 1st grade through 12th grade, and also training teachers and families in the Lovescaping methodology.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Whenever family and friends visit me in Houston, I always take them to my favorite spot: the giant, majestic oak tree on the Menil lawn. That was one of the first places I visited on my first trip to Houston and ever since I moved here it’s been my favorite place in the city. For food, it’s so hard to pick, because we are so fortunate to have so many great restaurants! But to name a few of my favorites: Huynh for Vietnamese, Blue Nile for Ethiopian and Himalaya for Indian.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout is for my little sister, Sofia. Even though she’s been in the background since I started my Lovescaping venture, she’s been instrumental in my journey. Sofia has had a side business for years where she helps authors self-publish. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have been able to self-publish the English version of my book in 2018, and then the Spanish version in 2019. She did everything to ensure my book was formatted impeccably for publishing. With patience, care, dedication and attention to detail, she worked tirelessly to ensure my book was ready by our deadline for my book launch. Thanks to her, I was able to publish my book with the vision I always had in mind. The making of the book itself was a labor of love, and everyone who played a role in its creation is part of it. My book, “Lovescaping: Building the Humanity of Tomorrow by Practicing Love in Action” is my legacy, and I couldn’t have done it without the support, effort and love that my sister Sofia put into it. I’m forever grateful to her.

Website: www.lovescaping.org
Instagram: @lovescaping
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irene-greaves-204bab115
Facebook: @lovescapingtheworld